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China-EU agreement reached
May 24th 2019
China recognizes EU designation for airlines, while EU makes it easier for China to sell aircraft and products. Read More »
China and the EU signed two agreements, one covering certification and one for air service agreements.
Regarding traffic rights, the cooperation development is a horizontal agreement in which China recognises the principle of EU designation. The EC says EU airlines will be able to fly to China from any EU country where there are traffic rights available to China. Previously China recognized carrier nationality, requiring Lufthansa to serve China from Germany and Austrian Airlines to fly to China from Austria. The new horizontal agreement theoretically allows Lufthansa to fly Austria-China and for Austrian to fly Germany-China.
The EU has such horizontal agreements with other countries, but Europe’s airlines still mostly fly long-haul to and from their home country. EU-US open skies in 2008 saw Air France launch, and quickly end, London-Los Angeles flights.
The EC says the traffic rights aspect “will be beneficial to airlines on both sides” although the benefit to China was not stated.
For the safety agreement, the EC says the benefit will be to remove “duplication of evaluation and certification activities for aeronautical products”. China Daily cited a CAAC release saying this cooperation includes airworthiness certification, air traffic control services, and personnel licensing and training.
Passenger traffic between the EU and China doubled to 10m in 10 years (2008-2017) with annual growth of 6.7%. China is the EU’s 10th largest ex-EU partner for passenger flights. Freight is the EU’s second-largest ex-EU partner, with the US being first. Freight has grown 9% annually in the last five years to 1.5 million tones, according to Eurostat.
