Sichuan Airlines has expanded its European operations, further strengthening the dominance of Chinese airlines on China-Europe routes.
The airline plans to launch nonstop flights between Chengdu Tianfu International Airport (TFU) and Madrid Adolfo Suárez-Barajas Airport (MAD), establishing the only nonstop connection between the two cities. Service is set to begin on April 27, operating four times per week.
According to OAG Schedules Analyser data, Sichuan Airlines currently serves four destinations on the Europe continent, flying from TFU to Istanbul, Moscow Sheremetyevo, Rome Fiumicino and St Petersburg. Athens has also been mooted as a potential destination in the future.
The planned launch of the 5,723-mi. (4,973-nm) route to Madrid will make it the ninth city accessible nonstop from Chengdu. In addition to Sichuan Airlines’ existing four routes, Air China operates flights from TFU to Frankfurt, London Heathrow and Milan Malpensa, while Hainan Airlines connects the airport to Vienna.
Chengdu will become the seventh city in mainland China with a direct flight from the Spanish capital. At present, Air China serves MAD from Beijing Capital; Beijing Capital Airlines from Hangzhou; China Eastern Airlines from Shanghai Pudong and Wenzhou; and Hainan Airlines from Chongqing and Shenzhen.
Figures provided by Sabre Market Intelligence show that Madrid-Chengdu ranked as the 10th largest Madrid-China city pair in 2024, with approximately 5,300 two-way O&D passengers. Meanwhile, Chengdu-Madrid was the sixth largest Chengdu-Europe city pair last year.
The expansion of Sichuan Airlines’ European network follows a broader trend of Chinese carriers increasing their footprint across Europe while their European counterparts reduce services to China. Over the past 12 months, multiple new routes have been launched by Chinese airlines, taking advantage of their ability to fly over Russian airspace that gives them a significant cost advantage over European rivals.
While Chinese carriers continue to expand aggressively, European airlines have been cutting back on their China operations, citing rising costs and reduced demand. Lufthansa and British Airways have each dropped routes to China in 2024, while Scandinavian Airlines and Virgin Atlantic have withdrawn entirely.