China Eastern Airlines will launch nonstop service between Xi’an and Vienna in April as carriers from China continue to expand across Europe, benefiting from ongoing access to Russian airspace.
The Shanghai-based airline will begin 3X-weekly year-round flights on April 20, deploying Airbus A330-200 aircraft on the route. The service marks China Eastern’s first scheduled route to the Austrian capital.
“The Chinese travel market is clearly gaining momentum again,” Vienna Airport joint CEO and COO Vienna Airport Julian Jäger says. “Together with China Eastern Airlines and the new direct service to Xi’an, we are further strengthening Vienna’s international connectivity and expanding our role as a key gateway between Europe and Asia.”
Xi’an, one of China’s oldest cities and the eastern terminus of the ancient Silk Road, is best known internationally as home to the Terracotta Army, a Unesco World Heritage Site. Beyond tourism, the city has emerged as a major educational, technological and industrial center in western China. It will host the forthcoming Routes Asia 2026 from April 14-16.
The planned launch coincides with a major infrastructure upgrade at Xi’an Xianyang International Airport, where the new Terminal 5 opened a year ago at a cost of about $2.8 billion. The facility significantly increases capacity, streamlines international transfers and strengthens Xi’an’s position as a growing long-haul gateway in western China.
Sabre Market Intelligence data shows demand between Austria and China continues to grow, with about 223,400 two-way O&D passengers in the 12 months to June 2025, up 37.5% year over year. Vienna-Beijing was the largest city pair, followed by Vienna-Shanghai and Vienna-Shenzhen.
The new route further strengthens China Eastern’s growing European network. According to OAG Schedules Analyser data, the airline already serves 12 European airports nonstop from Shanghai Pudong, excluding Russia, including Amsterdam, Barcelona, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Geneva, Istanbul, London Gatwick, London Heathrow, Madrid, Milan Malpensa, Paris Charles de Gaulle and Rome Fiumicino.
It also operates European services from Nanjing to Paris; Wenzhou to Madrid and Rome; and Xi’an to Milan Malpensa and Istanbul, which launched in summer 2024 and 2025, respectively. Additionally, subsidiary Shanghai Airlines serves Marseille from Shanghai, plus Budapest from Shanghai, Ningbo and Xi’an.
China Eastern’s Vienna launch comes amid a broader reshaping of Europe-China aviation following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The closure of Russian airspace to most Western airlines has forced European carriers onto longer, costlier routings, while Chinese airlines have retained access to more direct flight paths.
As a result, Chinese carriers now control about 83% of Europe-China capacity excluding Russia, up from roughly two-thirds in summer 2019.
Vienna currently has four nonstop routes to mainland China, served by Air China, Austrian Airlines and Hainan Airlines. The addition of Xi’an adds further depth to the market at a time when Vienna Airport is contending with near-term capacity reductions by several LCCs due to cost pressures and taxation.
Against that backdrop, the long-haul growth is strategically important. “The new nonstop connection to Xi’an opens up additional opportunities in a strong and dynamic economic market,” Vienna Tourist Board CEO Norbert Kettner says, adding that China has returned to the city’s top 10 source markets by accommodation revenue.
The Vienna launch follows a series of new and planned China-Europe routes, including China Southern’s plans to link Beijing Daxing with Helsinki.
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