The air-travel geek in me is titillated to learn that Air France is launching nonstop flights from Paris to Wuhan. When I visited that Chinese city by train in 1994 it was a burning hot, dusty place that seemed completely isolated from the rest of the planet. I knew it as the backward setting for parts of the Cultural Revolution and not much else.
For years I've thought we'll know that globalization truly has arrived when Wuhan has intercontinental flights. Well, the capital of Hubei Province is one of China's biggest cities and increasingly a magnet for international investment. It was just a matter of time.
This shows the ongoing transformation of China, of course, and also that cities have to compete for people like never before. When there are nonstop long-distance connections to second-tier cities there's no need to stand around at gatekeeper places like JFK, LHR or HKG.
There are plenty of other examples of this trend just in recent weeks. Japan Airlines announced it will use new efficient 787s to start flights from Tokyo to San Diego and Boston — the first-ever Asia flights from those cities. Emirates started Seattle-to-Dubai flights last week and Chinese airlines are planning flights from Chengdu and Shenyang to Vancouver, the first ever from those cities to North America.
The larger irony? Air France is adding Wuhan just as it ends flights to Seattle. The Seattle-Paris route will be taken over by Delta, flying older planes and offering less seemless connections to ongoing flights. Ouch.