Highlights Charter flights were operated for labour and staffs after COVID-19 outbreak in China. This study explores airline performance in charter operation under a less regulated environment. It visualizes and explains the change patterns of the labour charter routes. Private airlines were more active in charter operations in early stage of the Covid-19 pandemic. Arrival cities shifted from east to central inland region, then to western remote area.
Abstract China was the first market badly hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper explores how Chinese airlines started and involved in labour charter operations, and tanalyse the evolutionary patterns of the charter route network. Flying charter flights for migrant workers is a unique phenomenon in China, especially during the Wuhan lockdown period. The main results are three: (1) private airlines were more active in charter operations during the earlier period, (2) labour charter operation is a newly appeared aviation-government-industry cooperative business model, and (3) there was a spread, change and shift of both charter flows and charter passengers during the four-week period of the study. This case study not only produces useful insights about the important role of charter flights in China during the Covid-19 pandemic period, but also contributes to the theory and practice related to aviation resilience. Also, it contributes to the discussion about aviation policies in China, taking labour charter operation as a window time to predicate future airline dynamics in a more deregulated environment. The results can help airlines, and airports adjust routes, distribute capacity, and adjust layouts for Spring Festival labour transport in normal or post-pandemic times.
The operation of labour charter flights during the COVID-19 pandemic in China
2022-01-04
7 pages
Aufsatz (Zeitschrift)
Elektronische Ressource
Englisch
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