Originally Posted by
tth6133
I certainly agree that Europe-China flights, particularly from some EU countries, are generally a lot cheaper than US-China flights due to supply. However, I noticed that nonstop flights from some Western European countries (Spain seems to be an exception, probably because of excess supply?) to China on Chinese airlines are actually more expensive than comparable flights on major European airlines, presumably because the Chinese airlines don't have to avoid Russian airspace, making the trip, especially to northern China, shorter by a few hours.
You need to look at the broader market because nonstop flights (e.g. even BUD-WNZ) always carry a price premium, but the main reason CDG-BKK is 1/3 the cost of SFO-BKK (similar distance) is because Chinese airlines can deploy their planes in Europe, but not North America.
Your "Russian Airspace" point is relevant in some cases, but the heart of the issue is:
1. China executed bilateral air services agreements with France, Germany, Spain, Hungary, etc independently (i.e. instead of regarding the EU as a single nation)
-in each case, there are an equal number of slots per side
2. Chinee airlines use up all of their Germany and France slots, and AF/LH have taken out half of theirs
3. Under the current system, the US is no different than Spain (in spite of the much larger economy)
4. While UA and DL might be able to make a little more in terms of net revenue by increasing the slots cap in the bilateral, doing so would seriously harm markets line MNL
5. Sure, MU is hurting LH instead of UA under the current arrangement, but this is just basic economics
6. Consumers benefit from efficient asset allocation (i.e. would you prefer those MU 777s to sit on the ground in Shanghai instead of being used on LHR-PVG, which keeps LHR-SYD fares cheap?)