The Strategies of Chinese Passenger Airlines for Market Development of Long-distance Flights to Europe

China’s civil aviation industry underwent significant changes through liberalization and deregulation, which resulted in Chinese airlines achieving outstanding financial and operational results and improving competitiveness in the local and foreign market. One of the modern trends is that Chinese traditional carriers face cut-throat domestic competition, which stimulated them to expand the number of long-haul flights to Europe. In the past 10 years, Chinese airlines’ market share on the routes between China and Europe grew up from 38% to 52%. Previous studies on the civil aviation industry in China have mentioned different aspects of Chinese civil aviation. However, there is no complex research focused on the increase of Chinese carriers’ presence in Europe. This research sets out to identify the main strategies that Chinese carriers use in order to compete with European airlines on international routes or to launch new destinations on the above-mentioned market. Based on the analysis, we made recommendations to further improve the efficiency of operational activities on the routes between China and Europe. The results might be applicable for further research and other airlines as guidance for improving their operational activities.