Emirates expands network in China through agreement with Loong Air: 22 new destinations and stronger competition for Gulf carriers
Emirates announced on February 13, 2026, that it has signed an interline agreement with the Chinese carrier Loong Air, providing passengers with access to 22 additional domestic destinations within China. The deal, which takes effect immediately, is designed as an “extension” of Emirates’ own network in mainland China: after arriving at one of Emirates’ Chinese hubs, a passenger can continue on a Loong Air flight with a single ticket, aligned fare conditions, and baggage policy throughout the entire journey.
In practice, this means Dubai gains a broader “foothold” toward China’s secondary and tertiary cities – markets that have seen growth in demand in recent years, especially in the segments of business travel, manufacturing chains, and domestic tourism. Emirates emphasizes that connections take place via Hangzhou, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong, and among the “key domestic hubs” being opened are Zhengzhou, Changchun, Haikou, Xiangyang, and Dazhou.
What the interline agreement specifically brings to passengers
In the aviation industry, interline is the simplest form of cooperation between two companies: it does not necessarily imply code-sharing (codeshare), but it allows the passenger to purchase multiple travel segments as a single unit. For passengers, it is crucial that such arrangements typically reduce transit “friction”: instead of separate purchases and separate baggage processes, the passenger receives a single reservation, uniform ticket conditions, and greater predictability in case of flight schedule changes.
Emirates highlights this exact element in its announcement – a single price, one baggage policy, and consistent ticket conditions – which is particularly important in a market like China, where part of the demand is shifting from a few mega-hubs toward fast-growing second-tier cities. Business-wise, this allows Emirates to approach corporate clients and agencies with a “broader product” without the need to introduce additional long-haul routes to dozens of smaller destinations itself.
Why the focus on secondary cities has become crucial
For years, China has been a market where demand dynamics are measured not only by total numbers but also by the geography of growth. According to data from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), passenger traffic in 2025 reached 770 million passengers, with a 5.5 percent annual growth, while total traffic (tonne-km) rose by 10.5 percent. Such aggregate data shows a stable upward trend but also indicates that the market is expanding to more airports and regional hubs, which are taking over part of the passenger flows from traditional metropolises.
This is exactly where Emirates’ move fits in: passengers arriving in China via Emirates’ five main gateways receive an “additional layer” of connectivity toward cities in multiple regions – from the east and south to the center, northeast, and southwest of the country. For the tourism segment, this means easier connections to destinations outside classic itineraries, while for business travelers, access to industrial zones, logistics centers, and regional fairs, where international business is increasingly conducted outside Beijing and Shanghai, is more important.
Emirates in China: network growth and capacity return
Emirates has been present in mainland China since 2004. Today, according to official company data, it flies to five Chinese cities – Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Hangzhou – with a total of 49 weekly flights, using a fleet of Airbus A380, Airbus A350, and Boeing 777. The company reminds that in the past year, it introduced two new destinations in China, Shenzhen and Hangzhou, along with the introduction of the Premium Economy product on those routes, and the return of the A380 to flights to Shanghai.
Hangzhou is important both symbolically and operationally: it is a technologically powerful city in East China, and in Emirates’ strategy, it becomes one of the main points for further “spreading” into the interior. The interline with Loong Air turns this concept into a concrete offer, as Loong Air is headquartered exactly in Hangzhou and concentrates part of its operations there.
Loong Air: a regional carrier with expansion ambitions
Loong Air (Zhejiang Loong Airlines) was founded in 2011 and launched passenger services in 2013. It is headquartered in Hangzhou, with regional branches in Xi’an, Chengdu, and Guangzhou. The company launched its first international passenger route in 2016 and has been building a network of partnerships in recent years – including interline collaborations – to make it easier for passengers to combine itineraries with major international carriers.
For Emirates, such a partner is strategically useful because it “covers” a large number of domestic points from a hub already on the Emirates map, while Loong Air gains visibility and an additional flow of passengers from international markets entering China through Dubai as a global transit center.
Broader context: intensified competition among Gulf carriers for the Chinese market
The deal with Loong Air does not happen in a vacuum. The Chinese market is regaining importance in global aviation, and Gulf hubs – Dubai, Doha, and Abu Dhabi – are striving to establish themselves as gateways to Europe, Africa, and the Americas for Chinese passengers, but also as entry points for international passengers who want to reach Chinese cities quickly.
In such an environment, every additional level of connectivity becomes a competitive advantage. Emirates already states that, along with Loong Air, it cooperates with Air China, China Southern Airlines, and Sichuan Airlines, offering passengers access to more than 110 destinations within China outside its own network. In parallel, competing companies are expanding forms of cooperation with Chinese carriers: for example, in 2025, Qatar Airways announced the expansion of its partnership with China Southern Airlines through additional codeshare arrangements and flight coordination ahead of peak travel periods during Chinese holidays.
Ultimately, Gulf carriers are competing in the same field: who can offer the simplest route from the “world” to Chinese cities that are not necessarily on the radar of traditional long-haul routes. Interline agreements here become a tool for rapid expansion of a “virtual network” without a large increase in their own capacity, while maintaining control over the sales channel and customer experience.
One ticket, one baggage – and digital “local” elements
Emirates further emphasizes in the announcement that tickets can be purchased through its own website, online agencies, and global distribution systems (GDS), and it facilitates users’ payment availability via WeChat Pay and Alipay. In a market where mobile payments dominate daily spending, such details are not secondary: in airline ticket sales, the simplicity of the transaction is also crucial, and locally adapted payment methods are often a prerequisite for the offer to even “translate” into real demand.
For passengers, this means that international and domestic segments can increasingly be purchased as a single product, with fewer steps and less risk of purchase error. For companies, this is a way to build loyalty in a market where passengers are sensitive to simplicity, price, and the reliability of connections.
What this means for the economy and tourism
In transport policy and air transport economics, it is often emphasized that “connectivity creates a market.” When secondary cities are more easily connected to global hubs, opportunities for export sectors, business delegations, trade fairs, and investment contacts are strengthened. In the Chinese case, where industrial production, logistics, and e-commerce rely heavily on regional centers, additional availability of international connections can have concrete effects on business travel and the speed of movement of people between continents.
On the tourism side, such an arrangement potentially facilitates arrival in less “hyped” but increasingly popular destinations, especially in the coastal and southern regions where domestic tourism is developing in parallel with the growth of purchasing power. Emirates explicitly points out in the press release that the expansion of connectivity targets both leisure and business travelers, suggesting a dual strategy: reliance on corporate demand, but also catching the wave of regional tourism.
Limitations and questions that will accompany implementation
Although interline is generally less complex than deep codeshare or joint venture arrangements, its quality in practice depends on operational coordination. Key questions for passengers will be how delays and missed connections will be handled, which procedures apply at specific airports, and whether the availability of fares and seats will be wide enough during peak seasons. Emirates mentions “one” set of conditions and baggage for the entire trip, but the passenger experience will be measured at counters, transfer desks, and support centers when unforeseen changes occur.
Also, although the press release speaks of 22 additional destinations, publicly available summaries do not yet offer a complete list of all points covered by the interline agreement. From the available information, it is only clear that connections are provided via Hangzhou, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong and that Zhengzhou, Changchun, Haikou, Xiangyang, and Dazhou are among the highlighted cities.
The “network outside the network” strategy: partnerships as a response to changes in global aviation
In recent years, Emirates has systematically expanded the number of cities passengers can reach through partners, creating a “network outside the network” effect. In such a model, the long-haul carrier preserves the strength of the global brand and its own hub, while regional partners provide the so-called last mile connectivity. In a market like China – territorially large, with strong internal demand and a complex network of domestic flights – such an approach is often more effective than trying to cover all secondary destinations with one's own aircraft.
The interline with Loong Air can therefore be read as a continuation of a broader competition in which Gulf carriers seek to establish themselves as global bridges to Asia. At a time when international traffic continues to recover and China is increasingly characterized by the growth of regional centers, competition is clearly shifting to details: how easy it is to put together an itinerary, how stable the transit logistics are, and how wide a “tail” of domestic connections stands behind several large international entry points.
Sources:- Emirates Media Centre – official press release on the interline agreement between Emirates and Loong Air, including the number of new destinations and operational details (link)- Government of Dubai Media Office – relayed press release with key data on the agreement and Emirates’ presence in China (link)- Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) / State Council Information – statistics on Chinese civil aviation traffic in 2025 (link)- Emirates Media Centre – press release on the launch of the Dubai–Hangzhou route and data on 49 weekly flights to mainland China (link)- Qatar Airways – press release on the expansion of the partnership with China Southern Airlines (codeshare and flight coordination) (link)
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