Foreign airlines’ services to or from China’s second-tier cities are facing increased local competition, which has led to a fall in profits on the routes, and more empty seats. According to figures from travel-aviation industry analysts, European carriers cut capacity on secondary China routes by 23% in the first seven months, and suspensions of those are likely to grow in the coming months. Early this year, British Airways (BA), for instance, closed its route from London Heathrow to Chengdu, after the airline said flights were “not commercially viable”, despite Chengdu being widely regarded as one of China’s most promising destinations for Europeans, well known for its hi-tech industry development. In October last year, Lufthansa also discontinued its route from Frankfurt to Shenyang. Flying on a Chinese carrier is a more natural choice, as Chinese travelers are more familiar with domestic airline brands and are more comfortable with the largely Mandarin-speaking cabin crew and ground staff, than they might find on foreign carriers, according to Corrine Png, Chief Executive of Crucial Perspective, a transport industry research firm. Earlier this month, United Airlines announced it would no longer be flying to Hangzhou, where China’s largest internet giant Alibaba is headquartered. Residents in second-tier cities were widely seen as becoming a lucrative customer source for foreign airlines, but according to experts the problem is that Chinese passengers prefer Chinese carriers, the South China Morning Post reports.