China’s expanding aviation ties with the Middle East have taken a fresh step as Emirates and Loong Air sign a new interline partnership that significantly broadens access to Chinese cities for global travelers connecting via Dubai and key coastal hubs such as Hangzhou, Shenzhen and Hong Kong. The agreement, supported by China’s broader aviation outreach and the rapid growth of Loong Air’s domestic network, is designed to create smoother journeys to some of the country’s most compelling cultural and natural attractions.
A Strategic Bridge Between Dubai and Regional China
The interline partnership between Emirates and Loong Air gives passengers a single, streamlined itinerary that links long haul flights from Dubai with regional services across mainland China. Under the agreement, Emirates customers can now connect beyond the airline’s Chinese gateways onto a network of Loong Air flights reaching dozens of secondary and emerging cities. Travel industry observers see the pact as a strategic move that deepens Emirates’ footprint in one of the world’s fastest growing outbound and inbound tourism markets.
According to information released through European and Asian aviation outlets, the arrangement immediately opens access to 22 new destinations via Loong Air through connection points in Hangzhou, Shenzhen and Hong Kong. Cities such as Zhengzhou in central China, Changchun in the northeast, Haikou on tropical Hainan island, and Dazhou in the southwest become far easier to reach for travelers originating in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the Americas using Dubai as their global hub.
For Loong Air, headquartered in Hangzhou, the partnership reinforces its role as a regional connector linking China’s interior and coastal provinces with a growing array of international long haul services. It also aligns with China’s ongoing push to spread the benefits of international tourism and trade beyond the traditional gateway cities of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou by developing stronger air access to fast growing provincial capitals and industrial centers.
How the Interline Model Simplifies Passenger Journeys
At the heart of the new collaboration is a classic interline arrangement, a model that allows travelers to book a single ticket covering flights operated by both airlines. Instead of managing separate reservations, check in sessions and baggage transfers, passengers can now complete formalities once at their point of origin and travel through to their final Chinese city under unified handling. For long haul itineraries involving multiple time zones and connections, this simplification can significantly improve the overall travel experience.
Industry coverage notes that baggage can now be checked through from a customer’s departure city all the way to secondary Chinese destinations operated by Loong Air, removing the need to reclaim and recheck luggage during connections in Hangzhou, Shenzhen or Hong Kong. That is particularly valuable for travelers carrying winter clothing for the northeast, hiking gear for western mountain regions, or specialized equipment for trade fairs and industrial visits in inland cities like Zhengzhou or Xiangyang.
The unified itinerary also standardizes procedures in case of delays or disruptions. With both segments booked on a single ticket, travelers have clearer protection for missed connections and better coordinated support when flights are rescheduled due to weather or air traffic constraints. For tourism boards trying to attract international visitors beyond China’s primary coastal hubs, these seemingly technical arrangements can be decisive in convincing tour operators and independent travelers to look beyond the familiar big city itineraries.
Hangzhou, Shenzhen and Hong Kong Rise as Multigateway Hubs
The partnership places special emphasis on three coastal cities that are emerging as powerful aviation gateways in their own right. Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang province and home base for Loong Air, has grown rapidly as a technology and e commerce powerhouse. Its modern Xiaoshan International Airport has been adding international connectivity, including new services from Emirates that launched in 2025, strengthening the city’s role as a bridge between the Yangtze River Delta and the Gulf region.
Shenzhen in Guangdong province, already well established as a global manufacturing and innovation hub, has likewise seen growing long haul traffic from the Middle East. Emirates has added direct Dubai links to the city, complementing the dense web of domestic services provided by Chinese carriers. Under the new partnership, Shenzhen becomes a logical transfer point for travelers heading to or from the booming cities of south and southwest China, where tourism to coastal islands, karst landscapes and ethnic minority regions is on the rise.
Hong Kong, long known as one of Asia’s premier international gateways, fills a complementary role in the tri hub structure. Loong Air’s inclusion of Hong Kong in its interline connectivity portfolio with Emirates allows travelers to tap into the territory’s extensive air links while using its airports as a springboard into neighboring mainland provinces. For global travelers, this three pronged access strategy means more options for routing, schedule selection and onward exploration of Chinese destinations that until recently required additional domestic tickets and more complex planning.
New Access to China’s Cultural and Natural Attractions
Behind the network diagrams and airline codes lies a very practical outcome for tourists: it is simply becoming easier to reach some of China’s most intriguing, but previously less accessible, destinations. Secondary cities now reachable on a single Emirates Loong Air ticket serve as gateways to historic sites, mountain landscapes and coastal retreats that are increasingly promoted by regional tourism authorities.
Central transport hub Zhengzhou, for instance, offers onward access to the Shaolin Temple area and the UNESCO listed sites of Henan province. Changchun in the northeast opens doors to the forests, lakes and winter landscapes of Jilin, an emerging region for ski tourism and cold weather experiences. Haikou, capital of Hainan province, is the northern entry point to a tropical island that is positioning itself as a Chinese counterpart to other Asian beach destinations, with resorts, golf courses and national parks spread along its coasts.
Even lesser known names such as Xiangyang or Dazhou are important in the context of China’s internal tourism development. These cities form part of larger regional corridors reaching the Wudang Mountains, the Three Gorges area and vast inland river systems. As interline agreements make travel to such places less time consuming and more predictable, international tour operators may be more willing to include them in multi city itineraries that show visitors a broader picture of contemporary China beyond its global megacities.
Strengthening China–Gulf Aviation and Tourism Ties
The partnership between Emirates and Loong Air is not happening in isolation. It follows a pattern of expanding air links between China and Gulf carriers, as governments and airlines on both sides seek to deepen economic, tourism and cultural ties. Emirates already maintains cooperation agreements with other Chinese airlines, and its China network has been steadily reinforced with new destinations and upgraded aircraft on major routes.
For the United Arab Emirates, China has become a priority market both as an inbound tourism source and as a strategic trade partner. Growing numbers of Chinese visitors use Dubai and Abu Dhabi as stopover destinations on longer itineraries or as standalone leisure trips, while travelers from Europe and the Middle East increasingly see Chinese cities as attractive holiday options. Interline and codeshare partnerships that simplify travel in both directions are likely to support government level initiatives that promote mutual visa facilitation, investment cooperation and cultural exchanges.
From China’s perspective, closer collaboration with Gulf carriers supports Beijing’s broader connectivity and trade strategies, by tying Chinese cities more tightly into long haul networks spanning Europe, Africa and the Americas. Partnerships such as the Emirates Loong Air agreement also bring commercial benefits to regional airports and tourism industries, which can leverage the increased visibility and convenience to attract conferences, sporting events and international tourism campaigns.
Digital Payments and Passenger Experience Tailored to Chinese Travelers
Another notable aspect of the expanding cooperation is the growing emphasis on digital tools and payment systems that reflect Chinese travelers’ everyday habits. Emirates has been integrating popular Chinese payment platforms into its booking channels, including methods such as WeChat Pay and Alipay, making it easier for customers in China to purchase long haul tickets and combined itineraries that include Loong Air sectors.
This digital alignment reduces friction at the point of sale and allows travel agents, online platforms and corporate travel managers in China to offer seamless packages built around the Dubai hub. For younger, tech savvy travelers and frequent business flyers, the ability to book and manage complex itineraries using familiar mobile apps can be as important as the schedule itself. It also supports the broader trend of Chinese travelers booking more of their international travel independently, rather than solely through traditional group tours.
Onboard, Emirates has continued to differentiate its China services using widebody aircraft such as the Airbus A380 and Boeing 777, including premium economy cabins on some routes that appeal to long haul leisure travelers seeking additional comfort. Loong Air, for its part, positions itself as a modern regional carrier focused on efficient point to point connections within China, with schedules designed to mesh with arrivals and departures from Dubai and other major hubs in the region.
Implications for Tour Operators and Independent Travelers
For the global travel trade, the new interline partnership offers immediate opportunities to redesign itineraries that once required multiple domestic tickets or even overnight stops in gateway cities. Tour operators catering to markets in Europe, the Middle East and Africa can now package multi stop journeys that start with a direct Emirates flight to one of its Chinese gateways, followed by seamless Loong Air connections to inland or coastal secondary destinations and then back out of the country via a different city.
This flexibility can be used to build themed tours, such as combining tech focused visits in Shenzhen and Hangzhou with cultural circuits through inland provinces, or pairing a few days on the beaches of Hainan with city breaks in Shanghai or Beijing. Corporate travel managers arranging multi city business trips across China may also find it easier to align meeting schedules with available flights, reducing travel time and maximizing productivity on the ground.
Independent travelers who prefer to arrange their own journeys stand to benefit in similar ways. With interline itineraries searchable in a single booking engine and baggage transferred throughout, they can spend less time orchestrating connections and more time planning what to see once they arrive. As more foreign visitors begin to look beyond the classic Beijing–Shanghai–Xi’an triangle, the availability of straightforward air links can be the deciding factor in whether they add newer destinations to their plans.
An Expanding Map of Effortless Access to China
The tie up between Emirates and Loong Air reflects a wider pattern in which international carriers and Chinese airlines are using interline and codeshare agreements to stitch together increasingly dense networks. For travelers, the practical result is a map of China that feels smaller and more navigable, even as the number of destinations on offer continues to grow. With Dubai serving as a key junction between East and West, the new partnership provides another layer of connectivity that turns once complicated journeys into manageable, single ticket experiences.
As airlines on both sides monitor demand and fine tune schedules, more Chinese cities are likely to join the list of destinations effectively plugged into global tourism flows. For now, the focus on Hangzhou, Shenzhen and Hong Kong as multi gateway connection points, combined with Loong Air’s regional reach and Emirates’ long haul capacity, already marks a new phase in how international travelers can access China’s diverse landscapes, heritage sites and modern urban centers. The emerging pattern suggests that future growth in China’s inbound tourism will depend as much on these kinds of network partnerships as on the development of attractions themselves.