tth6133

No, there were some alternatives (e.g. EWR-PVG on UA). There were also far more 1-stop flights between NYC and PVG back then.

levik

I believe it was just MU operating a daily direct flight. Don't believe there was any other airline working that route non-stop. But maybe someone can correct my memory.

UPD: Ah, just noticed tth6133's comment above about UA's Newark flight. Not much of a Newark flyer, so possibly I missed it.

moondog

DTW is definitely east of DFW, and that flight is increasing to daily service (from 3x/week) on May 22 (while DFW remains at 4x/week).

In the commercial air travel industry, multiple airports that are in the same metropolitan region are often regarded as the same market. In this case, EWR and JFK are coterminals so MU effectively competed directly with UA. But, for the past 4 years, MU has had the entire market to itself, and only operates 2 flights per week. Since demand for this limited number of seats is strong and they have no nonstop competition, they have quite a bit of leeway as to how much they can charge for it.

Complaining that China Eastern is overpriced by honing in on its single most expensive route in isolation isn't especially compelling.

tth6133

You're right. I overlooked the DL flights from DTW.

levik

Interesting. Looks like UA is bringing back its daily EWR-PVG flights at the end of October. They are currently pricing at a nice $13k r/t for economy (and it's the M fare class, not even Y!) so that seems unlikely to bring MU prices back down.

moondog

They've put EWR-PVG on the schedule at least 4 times since January 2023, but in not one of those instances have they actually filed for EWR-PVG. Current conditions are a little better because there are some unused slot pairs they could theoretically finagle, but their "no flights from ORD or EWR until Russia overflights are permitted" stance seems to be quite rigid.

If/when they do manage to launch it, prices will come down. In the meantime, the status quo will remain mostly unchanged.

Dean1953

I flew them 3 times in the 2014-2019 period, from LAX to Shanghai to Kumming to Chiangmai for around $550 economy. If if were not for that extremely low price, I wouldn’t have endured a 2 day trip, with Kumming an 8 hour overnight connection. Given the option of any other airline for the same price or less, I’ll take the other airline every time.

m.y

MU had two daily flights, MU587 and 298. Both CZ and CA also had 2 daily flights each, CA also served EWR. JFK also had less than daily service to FOC, CKG, CTU and WUH.

UA was looking at starting 2nd daily EWR-PVG in 2020. Those were the booming days!

https://tw.ceair.com/newwebsite/tw/u...8timetable.pdf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_ro...ates_and_China
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-rele...300743333.html

wwtknoyb

This northern hemisphere summer flight plan, there will be so much capacity between Central/Eastern Europe and China.

If one adds for example HKG in one direction, the price for an economy return ticket starts as low as 370 EUR includlng checked baggage. This is the standard price 7-14 days before departure.

wwtknoyb

Who wants to fly with a little bit more comfort this summer

The 650 EUR BUD-NGB r/t in MU/FM Premium Economy are back on sale.

Ningbo to Shanghai or Hangzhou should not be a problem with the High Speed Rail Network.

As it is within the Shanghai 144h-TWOV zone, it might also be interesting for people who plan to visit Shanghai.

moondog

Hangzhou, maybe. But, getting to Shanghai from NGB borders on too annoying to consider.

wwtknoyb

Well, if one adds BUD-NGB-PVG, despite now daily direct BUD-PVG flights for the summer season, it is only a couple of EUR more for the 50 minutes flight.

Might be the better option then.

BUD-PVG direct however is sometimes quite expensive.

Trip.com is selling High-Speed-Train tickets from Ningbo to Hongqiao for 20 EUR with a duration of 2h20 minutes.

yitianjian

It's only an hour more on the high speed train, I wouldn't consider it that much worse. Getting from NGB to the train station might be more painful than the extra hour on the train.

moondog

Driving v train is a faster in this case, but still not fun in my book.

wwtknoyb

Not to go too far off-topic, but the Hungarian PM invited Chinese Police Officers to patrol together with their Hungarian colleagues in Hungary this summer.