Why Emirates is turning to China’s regional airline

Recently, Emirates introduced a joint interline settlement with Loong Air, a Zhejiang-based regional service.

Some aviation fans defined it this fashion: “For those unfamiliar, it’s like Sam’s Club partnering with a small local supermarket.”

Behind Emirates’ resolution to group up with Loong Air lies a strategic pivot within the Chinese market.

Competition at China’s 4 main hubs—Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen—has already reached saturation. Emirates operates both one or two every day flights on these routes, leaving restricted room for incremental development. Reaching second-tier cities similar to Zhengzhou or Changchun by way of self-operated routes can be pricey. Instead of burning capital on trial routes, Emirates is selecting to “test the waters” through Loong Air’s home community.

Compared with code-sharing, the interline mannequin is considerably lighter—it requires no system overhaul, no service standardization, and solely sales-side integration, making it the lowest-cost method to penetrate the market.

Last 12 months, Emirates launched a every day Dubai–Hangzhou service, marking Hangzhou the airline’s first mainland Chinese vacation spot served by its Airbus A350. Emirates now operates 49 weekly flights between Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Hangzhou.

By partnering with a neighborhood base service, Emirates can create a closed loop at Hangzhou: Emirates handles internationally sectors, whereas Loong Air offers home connectivity.

Data reveals that in 2025, Hangzhou airport dealt with 238,000 worldwide switch passengers, with worldwide switch routes rising to 30. These passengers signify an present pool of demand that Emirates can faucet into.

Hangzhou is only one a part of Emirates’ broader China technique. Through partnerships with Air China, China Southern, Sichuan Airlines, and Loong Air, Emirates’ now extends to over 110 locations throughout mainland China.

As Qatar Airways and Etihad proceed to compete aggressively for Chinese vacationers, this “broad-net” strategy to native partnerships additionally features as a defensive technique.

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