News
China’s regulator relaxes “One Route, One Carrier” rule
May 18th 2018
The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) is relaxing the “one route, one airline” policy that it introduced in 2009 to curb long haul competition among state-controlled carriers. Read More »
From October 1, on a case by case basis, the CAAC will allow more than one airline to operate on any long-haul route. The regulator said Mainland aviation had entered a new phase and implied there was sufficient demand to sustain profitability at the effected carriers.
The change was necessary ahead of the planned opening of the second international airport in Beijing in 2019, the CAAC said.
A number of bureaucratic hurdles must be overcome to implement the new policy. The CAAC will divide long-haul routes into two categories. The policy will be abolished for countries with a partial ‘Open Skies’ agreement with China. This category includes Australia and the U.S. Other long-haul destinations will retain some restrictions.
Mainland carriers have launched an astonishing number of long-haul routes from second and third-tier Chinese cities in recent years as a result of the one route one carrier rule. Examples include Jinan to Los Angeles and Fuzhou to Sydney. It is expected some of these ‘exotic’ and hard-to-turn-a-profit services will be cancelled when the policy change is put in place. Affected carriers are expected to shift their flights to larger hub airports depending on slot availability.
