Emirates increases China capacity to meet winter demand

• Chinese market begins to pick up
• Partnership deals add 110 destinations
• War still deterring Chinese tourists

Emirates is adding more capacity on flights to China this winter as strong demand fills existing services, despite a slower recovery in Chinese airline capacity to Dubai.

The Dubai-based flag carrier flies to five cities across mainland China as well as Hong Kong. This includes twice-daily flights to Shanghai and Beijing as well as single daily flights to Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Hangzhou.

“We’re seeing very strong demand coming in from the Chinese market,” said Adnan Kazim, the carrier’s deputy president and chief commercial officer.

Emirates declined to provide future booking figures, but more than 604,000 passengers travelled on its Dubai-China routes in the first half of 2026, according to Cirium data.

By comparison, the airline carried more than 1.3 million passengers between Dubai and China in 2025, up from just over 1.1 million in 2024.

Emirates operates a mixed fleet on these routes, including its flagship Airbus A380, Boeing 777-300ER and the latest Airbus A350 aircraft.

Kazim said there are plans in place to “upgrade” capacity on the Shanghai and Beijing routes “to meet the demand”.

He said the additional capacity would be deployed during the winter schedule, with demand coming from passengers travelling to Dubai and those using the city as a hub for onward journeys.

“China to Dubai for sure but China to beyond as well,” he said.

Emirates has strengthened connections beyond its own Chinese network. In February it signed an interline agreement – such partnerships allow airlines to sell flights on each other’s networks – with Loong Air, giving access to 20 additional Chinese destinations.

The carrier also has partnerships with Air China, China Southern Airlines and Sichuan Airlines, providing access to 110 destinations in China beyond its five own gateways.

Emirates’ sister airline Flydubai, which currently does not operate to China, has the country’s secondary cities in its sights.

“China is a big part of our future,” CEO Ghaith Al Ghaith said. He said the country could be covered by the carrier’s Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft, 30 of which are on order, and from the 150 A321neos due to be delivered from 2031.

In April, Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways announced plans to add 28 flights per week to five new destinations in China, taking its total operation to 35 weekly services across six cities – Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Hangzhou and Shenzhen.

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While Gulf carriers have resumed services, the recovery among Chinese peers is uneven. Air China operates Beijing services to Dubai and Abu Dhabi, while China Eastern’s Shanghai-Abu Dhabi route remains suspended until late October. Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific has extended its suspension of flights to and from Dubai and Riyadh until November 30.

According to consultants Dragon Trail Intelligence, flight capacity on China-Dubai routes for the year through to July was 51 percent below the same period in 2024.

The broader Chinese travel market is also taking longer to recover from the impact of the Iran war.

Dragon Trail said more than a quarter of Chinese travellers interested in visiting the Middle East and North Africa would not consider travelling to the region within the next three months as of August. Just 33 percent said they would look forward to travelling to Mena within the next year.

Longer-term sentiment is considerably stronger. Dragon Trail said 57 percent of Chinese travellers surveyed would look forward to visiting the region within one to three years, while only 6 percent said they would not consider it.

The research group expects a meaningful recovery in Chinese tourism to the region from the October 2027 National Day holiday, “provided the security situation remains stable”.