Chinese cities like Xiamen, Nanjing, Chongqing and Xi’an have successively launched direct flights to Paris. At the same time, the Shanghai–Marseille route is ramping up rapidly.
A new trend is emerging: China–France routes are no longer centered solely on Paris.
For a long time, Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport handled almost all air connectivity between the two countries. High-frequency flights linking Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou with Paris formed the backbone of the market.
But this “single-hub” structure is beginning to shift. Following the launch of the Shanghai Pudong–Marseille route by Shanghai Airlines, a subsidiary of China Eastern Airlines, in 2024, new routes to cities such as Lyon may also be on the horizon.
According to the latest data from VariFlight, Chinese carriers now account for 77.02% of capacity on China–France routes, compared with just 22.98% for Air France.
Six Chinese airlines—including China Eastern Airlines, Air China and China Southern Airlines—have taken a leading position through multi-city expansion. China Eastern and Air China each hold a 29.83% share, jointly ranking first.
This marks a clear shift: in the French market, Chinese airlines are no longer just filling gaps—they are taking the lead.
Paris remains the dominant hub. However, as traffic from China’s tier-one and key tier-two cities continues to grow, its capacity is nearing saturation.
Growth is now seeking new outlets. In the first half of 2025, six routes from major hubs—Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong, Taipei and Guangzhou—to France carried 969,400 passengers, up 6.63% year-on-year.
Among them, Shanghai grew by 14.5%, Hong Kong by 1.3%, Taipei by 2.9%, and Guangzhou by 29.4%, while Beijing declined by 6.4%.
Meanwhile, five routes from secondary hubs—Xiamen, Shenzhen, Chongqing, Xi’an and Chengdu—carried 102,000 passengers in the first half, surging 79.7% year-on-year, with an average load factor of 83.8%.
The Shanghai–Marseille route has reached 150 round-trip flights, nearly matching Xiamen–Paris (156 flights) and surpassing Shenzhen–Paris in frequency.
