I understands all that, but it does not really answer any of my questions:BRU wrote:Depends on the bilateral agreement in place. This is the same reason why for example Qatar Cargo is choosing LUX as their European Hub: because they have these almost unlimited flights and 5th freedom rights, which they do not have somewhere else. So is a very important factor.
Secondly, it is also how the civil aviation grants the obtained rights to their respecive airlines. For BRU, which they consider a secondary hub, they only allow one Chinese carrier to operate. For other cities that might be more. So although technically it is possible according to the bilateral agreement to have more Chinese carriers operating flights, the governement is blocking that.
1- are more than 1 Belgian airlines allowed to serve the PRC then, or will either VLM or Air Belgium have to drop out, since they're fishing in the same pond, it seems...
2- what if the bilateral or its interpretation is changed (under pressure of other bigger players like the Lufthansa group which has a JV with Air China and/or economic demand): how big is the commitment of Chinese investors in an expensive Belgian operation, the moment they can move it to much cheaper China again in the wake of a more liberal agreement?
If the only basis for an airline is a workaround around a legal hurdle, it's not based on a very solid platform, I'd say.