Last week, China Eastern Airlines unveiled its growth plan for the next ten years in Shanghai during the announcement of its half-yearly results for 2023.
This ambitious plan covers the addition of 41 new regional and long-haul destinations, including the airline’s entry into South America with Buenos Aires, Argentina, among the proposed routes.
Despite the challenges posed by China’s strict zero-COVID policy that was strictly enforced, airlines from the country are determined to expand their international flight operations by March of next year. The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) recently announced plans to operate around 840 weekly inbound and outbound flights between late October and late March, almost double from the previous year.
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China Eastern’s Mega HUB in Shanghai
The airline aims to transform Shanghai/Pudong (SGV) into a major hub for all of Asia and a primary gateway to China. As China’s main commercial and financial center and one of the world’s leading cities, Shanghai is well-prepared for this role.
According to this plan, China Eastern has split its expansion into two five-year phases. The next phase, the fourteenth in the series, includes the opening of 18 new routes from Shanghai to various destinations:
- South America: Buenos Aires/Ezeiza (Argentina).
- Europe: Manchester (United Kingdom), Athens (Greece), Marseille (France), Milan/Malpensa (Italy), and Vienna (Austria).
- Africa: Johannesburg/OR Tambo (South Africa) and Cairo (Egypt).
- Middle East: Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates), Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), Tehran (Iran), and Tel Aviv (Israel).
- Asia: Almaty (Kazakhstan), Cheongju (South Korea), Da Nang and Hanoi (Vietnam), Tashkent (Uzbekistan), and Vientiane (Cambodia).
Upon concluding this expansion phase, China Eastern plans to launch several more new routes from Shanghai, which include 23 new destinations among them:
- North America: Atlanta, Boston, and Seattle (USA).
- Europe: Berlin and Munich (Germany), Barcelona (Spain).
- Africa: Nairobi (Kenya).
- Oceania: Christchurch (New Zealand) and Perth (Australia).
These new routes are strategically aligned with destinations that have strong business partnerships, like Delta Air Lines in the United States, Vietnam Airlines in Hanoi, or Aerolíneas Argentinas in South America.
The success of this growth plan will heavily depend on China Eastern’s long-haul fleet, which currently consists of:
- 30 Airbus A330-200
- 25 Airbus A330-300
- 18 Airbus A350-900, with two more awaiting delivery
- 20 Boeing 777-300 (ER)
- 3 Boeing 787-9, with two more pending delivery
Argentina, back on the map for direct flights
The entry of China Eastern Airlines to Buenos Aires, potentially happening between 2024 and 2027, represents a historical advancement in terms of connectivity for Argentina, marking the return of an airline from the Far East to the South American country after more than a decade when Malaysia Airlines operated flights twice a week to Buenos Aires via Cape Town, South Africa.
Since the beginning of the year, local media have been closely following China Eastern amid speculations about an expansion plan to attract inbound and outbound travelers to China.
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The airline detailed that flights to Buenos Aires will include a stopover in Madrid (MAD), Spain, using aircraft Airbus A350-900, Airbus A330-200, or Airbus A330-300 twice a week under a fifth freedom of the air agreement, granting rights to move passengers between Argentina and Spain.
- Shanghai-Madrid flight MU 265 PVG 00:35 – 15:10 MAD / Monday and Thursday.
- Madrid-Buenos Aires flight MU 265 MAD 17:40 – 06:40 (+1) EZE / Monday and Thursday.
- Buenos Aires-Madrid flight MU 266 EZE 09:00 – 21:00 MAD / Tuesday and Friday.
- Madrid-Shanghai flight MU 266 MAD 23:30 – 12:45 (+1) PVG / Tuesday and Friday.
Subject to changes and government approvals.
With the presented scheduling, for Madrid, it would mean having a daily flight from China Eastern to Shanghai, two more than the current five weekly flights made with Airbus A350-900.
Argentina and China move forward to increase connectivity between the two countries
Since May of 2019, Aerolíneas Argentinas and China Eastern have an agreement for shared codes, facilitating connections through Rome, Madrid, and New York between Argentina and China.
In March of the current year, Argentina and China signed a comprehensive tourism plan that includes visa facilitations.
According to data from the United Nations World Tourism Organization and the Argentine Ministry of Tourism, Argentina is the second most important market in Latin America and the Caribbean for arrivals from China. In 2019, the South American country received 71,000 Chinese tourists, and projections for the next five years forecast an annual increase of 150,000 tourists coming from China.
Before the pandemic, Chinese tourists and corporate travelers mainly used Qatar Airways, KLM, and Emirates to get to Argentina. Currently, according to ANAC Argentina, Emirates and KLM remain favorites, but Ethiopian Airlines has gained popularity, recently increasing its seating capacity by replacing Boeing 787 Dreamliners with Airbus A350-900 on its flights to Argentina.
