Originally Posted by peasant

China is an odd domestic market, as the govt hasn't allowed LCC to any extent. If you look at any other large domestic market (EU, US, OZ, Japan, India, Indonesia) the LCC have won, or the FSC forced to become defacto LCC. (domestically, JL and NH are LCC, competing against Shinkansen, and usually having to be cheaper than the train) In a more normal world, I would have expected KA to have been the LCC for China, and regional points, and CX the long haul FSC. BA has sort of done this, with BA Europe vs BA Longhaul being very different products.

I think CX is also a bit stuck by use of long haul aircraft in the region. LH doesn't use A350 for FRA-FCO, so with EU airlines there is a clear distinction long/ short haul. To use an extreme example, 275 seats in a B773ER HKG-TWN has got to be horrible economics vs a A321 with 230 seats.