The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) recently released the Draft Measures for Optimizing the Review of Domestic Routes and Flights for public consultation. Aligned with China's push for high-quality civil aviation development, the proposal focuses on strengthening the country's airport hub system and domestic air transport backbone and basic networks, while addressing excessive competition in the industry.
The draft measures introduce more detailed review rules across four key areas: route segment market access, flight capacity management, flight schedule administration, and the entry and exit mechanism for route operating permits. Supported by differentiated incentives and regulatory constraints, the measures aim to improve the allocation of domestic air service resources. The new rules are scheduled to take effect with the 2026/27 winter-spring scheduling season.
1. Tiered market access with differentiated entry and protection policies
* Stricter control over the number of airlines on individual route segments. For regular route segments already served by four or more airlines, additional carrier entry will be suspended. New entrants will only be permitted on newly launched route segments or those served by no more than three airlines.
* Two-year protection period for routes serving smaller airports. Beginning with the 2026 winter-spring scheduling season, single-carrier route segments involving airports with annual passenger throughput of 2 million or below may apply for a two-year market cultivation period.
* Introduction of a dual-indicator, tiered entry assessment mechanism. Domestic route segments will be classified into five categories: between international aviation hubs; between international and regional hubs; between regional hubs; between hubs and non-hubs; and between non-hub airports. Each category will be subject to tiered load factor assessment standards. For route segments operated by two or three airlines, passenger traffic will also be assessed. A new airline may enter only if at least one of the two indicators—load factor or passenger volume—meets the required threshold. If neither indicator is met, additional market entry will be suspended.
2. Refined management of flight capacity
The draft measures further refine flight capacity management by introducing differentiated support policies for backbone routes, express routes, and the basic domestic air network, aiming to allocate capacity more efficiently according to the strategic role of each route.
3. Standardized end-to-end flight schedule management
The proposal seeks to standardize the full flight scheduling process, ensure operational continuity, and streamline filing and approval procedures.
4. Improved route permit entry and exit mechanism
The draft measures also enhance the mechanism governing route operating permits, encouraging airlines to proactively optimize capacity deployment while placing greater constraints on inefficient route operations.
