Chinese and Indian airports chase hub status amid Iran disruption

{"text":[[{"start":11.55,"text":"The Iran war has granted airports in China and India a rare chance: the opportunity to anchor global travel. "}],[{"start":19.83,"text":"Before the conflict began in February, one in three travellers journeying between Asia and Europe passed through a Middle Eastern airport such as Dubai, Abu Dhabi or Doha. "}],[{"start":33.62,"text":"The broader Asian continent has grown mega hubs in Singapore and Hong Kong — but mainland China and India have so far failed to create their own answers to the Gulf giants. "}],[{"start":45.4,"text":"Despite the ceasefire announced this week travel through the Gulf is likely to remain constrained for the coming months, and Asia’s airports have a generational chance to put themselves on the map, say executives and industry experts."}],[{"start":60.129999999999995,"text":"“India has so far squandered their opportunity to create a global hub,” says Hari Marar, chief executive of Bangalore International airport. As it watched the rise of the Gulf, the country has been held back by government regulations and the lack of a strong anchor airline, he said. "}],[{"start":78.67999999999999,"text":"“For many years, the largest hub for India has been many of the airports in the Middle Eastern region,” he told the FT.  "}],[{"start":87.46,"text":"Significant plane orders mean India’s two major airlines — Air India and IndiGo — will triple their fleet size in the coming decade. "}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":96.80999999999999,"text":"China and India are already adding significant airport capacity in the expectation of a domestic travel boom from the newly rich middle classes. "}],[{"start":107.43999999999998,"text":"Justin Erbacci, who leads global airports body ACI World, believes that rising connectivity within China and India will naturally lead to a growing number of passengers connecting through airports in those countries. "}],[{"start":122.42999999999998,"text":"“The China market will grow because of domestic demand, and India too,” he said. “Once you do that, once you have the network domestically, then a lot more destinations become available that people will maybe want to go to, and then hubs will develop as a result of that.”"}],[{"start":null,"text":"

• Labourers wearing safety helmets work on scaffolding as an IndiGo Airlines plane descends in the background
• China Southern Airlines's first C919 aircraft takes off from Shanghai Pudong International Airport, with the terminal and other planes in the background

"}],[{"start":140.51,"text":"He predicts the growth of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, which will also benefit from increased “point to point” demand with Chinese travelling to India and across Asia."}],[{"start":152.94,"text":"Early signs are promising. In the four weeks following the outbreak of the Iran war, Australia’s Flight Centre Travel Group said its bookings for business travel transiting through mainland China rose 69 per cent. Although severe disruptions have eased, capacity for many Gulf-based airlines remains limited."}],[{"start":174.67,"text":"According to data provider OAG, Chinese airlines have added more than 3,000 flights from China to European airports this summer compared to a year earlier, taking the total to 20,782. Flights from China to Australasia this summer, at 5,703, are also up 29 per cent."}],[{"start":198.47,"text":"When linking Asia to Europe, China’s airlines — China Southern, China Eastern, Air China and Juneyao — already have a significant advantage over European rivals. "}],[{"start":209.81,"text":"Chinese airlines fly over Russia, a route unused by other carriers since the country’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. "}],[{"start":219.45,"text":"“China already had the advantage in terms of getting to Europe with direct flights over Siberia, so an advantage in routing and total time and cost,” said John Strickland, an aviation consultant. "}],[{"start":233.14,"text":"The ability to fly over Russia increases China’s competitive advantage over rivals even more. The supply disruption of jet fuel has hit some Asian airlines, such as Korean Air, in the short term."}],[{"start":247.76999999999998,"text":"However, setting up an airport to specialise in transit traffic requires a fundamentally different approach to one that is focused on destination travellers. "}],[{"start":259.26,"text":"Airports compete on transfer time, or how long it takes to shuttle passengers from one flight to another, often on purpose-built railways or buses. "}],[{"start":269.94,"text":"Istanbul Airport has a network of underground tunnels where buggies carrying guests speed through. For those staying longer, but not long enough to justify leaving its vast terminal, there are art exhibitions and a museum featuring an original bust of Alexander the Great."}],[{"start":288.98,"text":"Hub airports often build their entire flight schedule around maximising connectivity. "}],[{"start":295.22,"text":"Building up takes time, and requires specific focus from an airport’s owner. At the same time, Gulf hubs insist their long-term growth plans have not changed despite the conflict."}],[{"start":308.65000000000003,"text":"“Mainland Chinese airports are still less attractive [as a hub],” said Peter Jolicoeur, an airports consultant based in Hong Kong. “They don’t have the amenities and services compared to Hong Kong and Singapore.”"}],[{"start":322.65000000000003,"text":"China’s airports, while large, are not set up to operate in the same way as global transfer hubs such as Doha or Istanbul. "}],[{"start":333.33000000000004,"text":"“They offer massive links into China, into other cities and parts of China that don’t have international services, but they’re not hubs in the sense of the Gulf or European ones or for that matter American ones,” Strickland said. "}],[{"start":348.38000000000005,"text":"Established Asian hubs such as Singapore and Hong Kong have seen more flights added, both to Europe and also as fuelling stops for super-long-haul flights between western Europe and Australia. Singapore Airlines has laid on two additional daily flights to London until the end of the summer, in an indication it expects disruption to continue for months. "}],[{"start":372.7300000000001,"text":"After a collapse in international travel during the Covid-19 pandemic, China expanded visa-free policies for transiting passengers, currently available for visitors from dozens of countries, including the UK."}],[{"start":386.57000000000005,"text":"In the first half of 2025, Shanghai’s airports received 2.6mn foreign visitors, mostly at Pudong Airport, up 44.7 per cent year on year according to the Shanghai Airport Authority."}],[{"start":402.27000000000004,"text":"Shanghai is aiming to position itself “as a preferred global transit hub”, according to an initiative launched last summer. This has included offering free overnight rest areas — complete with blankets and slippers — with capacity for more than 1,000 slumbering travellers. "}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":422.15000000000003,"text":"The country’s airports are already benefiting from increased direct flights to Europe. "}],[{"start":428.13000000000005,"text":"One in three of the flights from China to the UK land at London Gatwick. Airport boss Pierre-Hugues Schmit said that “ad hoc” services from Asia had been added since the conflict began, and that flights are fuller than before as people continue to travel while avoiding the Gulf. "}],[{"start":447.12000000000006,"text":"“We have observed a pick-up in load factors for flights to China and certain destinations in east Africa,” he said. The load factor indicates how full a plane is. While airlines have increased services in the short term, whether they retain them “will very much depend on the situation in the Middle East”, he added. "}],[{"start":467.1600000000001,"text":"Chinese carriers are in particular securing business from passengers bound for Australasia. Before the conflict, half of journeys from the region to Europe passed through the Gulf. "}],[{"start":478.55000000000007,"text":"Bookings from New Zealand on Chinese airlines rose by almost a fifth in March, according to one person familiar with the situation. "}],[{"start":487.38000000000005,"text":"However, the financial might that helped build the Gulf airports into the gorillas of the industry will also help them fight back with lower fares once airspace fully reopens. "}],[{"start":499.37000000000006,"text":"This has led some industry leaders to predict very little long-term structural change. "}],[{"start":505.51000000000005,"text":"Willie Walsh, head of global airline body Iata and the incoming CEO of IndiGo, believes that predictions of a redrawing of the world map are overdone. Around 15 per cent of the world’s international air traffic is provided by Middle Eastern carriers. "}],[{"start":523.1400000000001,"text":"With the industry constrained by aircraft supply for the rest of the decade, it is hard to see others making permanent inroads, he argued. "}],[{"start":533.3800000000001,"text":"“When things stabilise, the Middle East hubs will return to the position they were in prior to this war,” he said. “The other hubs may be able to replace a little bit of that capacity but the reality is they’re not going to be able to get anywhere close.” "}],[{"start":549.7600000000001,"text":"Additional reporting by Jude Webber in Dublin "}],[{"start":563.11,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1775891793_2280.mp3"}