The suspension of flights between the industrial city of Zhengzhou and Xian, home of the Terracotta Warriors, came just 48 days after the express railway began operations.
The 505 km railway, on which trains run at a top speed of 350 km per hour, has cut the travel time between the two cities from more than six hours to less than two. By contrast, flying takes just over an hour. And Xian’s airport is at least an hour away by road from downtown.
Before the railway opened, Joy Air, one of the domestic airlines flying the route, managed to sell an average of more than 60% of seats for the route.
Reuters reports that Zhengzhou airport confirmed that all flights to and from Xian had now stopped.