Recently, Austria's rejection of China Eastern Airlines' (China Eastern) application to open a route to Vienna has attracted a lot of attention. As we all know, China Eastern Airlines originally planned to launch a route to Vienna in April this year, but now this route has not yet been seen. Moreover, the Riyadh route has been opened, but the Vienna route has not moved, which is a bit curious.
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So, what exactly is the reason for Austria's rejection of China Eastern Airlines? Actually, the reason is quite simple. China Eastern can use Russia's airspace, which is a big advantage for them. However, Austria Airlines cannot use Russia's airspace, which makes people feel a little unfair. Austria believes that such a form of competition is a bit unfair and simply "cheating". After all, others have an advantage that they don't, and this situation makes people feel very helpless.
Moreover, as everyone knows, there are currently three routes between the two countries. Hainan Airlines has Shenzhen-Vienna, Air China has Beijing-Vienna, and Austria Airlines has Vienna-Shanghai. In particular, Air China has recently increased its flights to one per day, so that the number of flights on the mainland has far exceeded that of Austria. You can imagine how fierce the competition in the market is.
Some netizens complained on the Internet: "Oops, isn't this the same as playing a game, others have plug-ins and you don't have them, of course you can't play them!" It seems that this kind of "unfair competition" has indeed made many people feel dissatisfied. However, in addition to this reason, market factors are also an important factor. Prices on international routes have dropped to very low levels, especially after Continental Airlines resumed or increased routes on a large scale, and fares have fallen like a roller coaster.
Speaking of which, one might ask: why did ticket prices fall like this? The reason is actually quite simple. After the epidemic, international exchanges have decreased, and the market has also been downgraded. However, airlines continue to increase international routes, which leads to an overall price war. Some netizens joked: "Now that you are flying abroad, you may not even have enough money for a hamburger!" "Indeed, domestic airlines do not hesitate to reduce prices in order to compete for market share, and as a result, the price war in the market is out of control.
For example, recently took Xiamen Airlines from Amsterdam to Australia in Xiamen, only more than 2,000 yuan. The price is simply jaw-dropping. Other airlines can't stand the price war, such as Qantas grounding its Shanghai route because of losses. United Kingdom Virgin Atlantic also announced that it will stop the Pudong route that has been operating for 25 years after the season change in October. Hey, global airlines are also desperate for this price war.
And the situation in China is also quite complicated. While the massive resumption and increase of routes has brought cheap fares to consumers, there has also been a problem: prices on domestic routes remain high. For example, some time ago, the lowest ticket price from Beijing to Shenzhen was 1,600 yuan, which is almost twice the price of the ticket price from Beijing to Hong Kong. Moreover, the round-trip ticket price in the Southeast Asian market is now less than 1,000 yuan, but it is really difficult to find a round-trip 1,000 yuan for domestic travel.
Some netizens sighed: "Wow, it's so cheap to fly now, but the price of domestic routes is still so expensive, it really makes people laugh and cry!" "It also raises the question of whether the price war can really bring substantial benefits behind it, or whether it will only end up plunging the entire industry into a loss-making situation.
Despite this, while global airlines made a lot of money in the first half of the year, mainland airlines are still in the red. Especially for large state-owned airlines, except for private airlines such as Spring and Autumn and Jixiang, which are profitable, almost all of them are loss-making. Someone said: "These big companies are really fighting, although they are losing money, they still insist on opening routes!" This spirit of "going into battle shirtless" is touching, but if it doesn't last for a long time, there may be a chicken feather situation in the future.
As for Austria's decision, some see it as a "first shot in Europe", which also means that more countries may take similar reasons in the future to reject Continental Airlines' application and avoid getting involved in a price war. The emergence of this situation may make many airlines feel helpless.
In addition, there have been some other news to keep an eye on recently. For example, Chinese planes have been seized in Germany and Netherlands, but new buyers have been found. This situation also sparked some discussions, and some netizens joked: "It seems that these planes are still quite popular!" "And Starlink aircraft have exceeded 1,000 aircraft, with excellent quality and reasonable prices, which also makes many people feel that such benefits are really not to be missed.
In general, the international aviation market is now very competitive, and airlines from all countries are fighting for market share. While the price war has brought cheaper fares to consumers, it has also brought many challenges to the industry as a whole. It remains to be seen how it will develop in the future.