All flights linking Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province in central China, and Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu province in east China, have been suspended since 27 March, according to the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China. The suspension will stay in place until September, when the air authority will re-evaluate the use of air services, reported China Daily.

This is the first domestic air route to be suspended at Wuhan airport since the start of the recent rapid expansion of China’s high-speed railway network, which totalled 8,358km at the end of last year.

Previously, two daily flights linked Nanjing and Wuhan, which are situated about 520km apar. The intercity trains, which began service in 2009 and run at speeds of up to 250kph, offer second-class tickets for Rmb180; a full price one-way ticket cost Rmb730.

The high-speed trains have enjoyed an occupancy rate of about 90 per cent, compared with less than 50 per cent on weekday flights. From 6 March the number of coaches on each service has been doubled, increasing the daily capacity to more than 3,600 seats. With additional high-speed train services due to start in the third quarter of this year, the rail system is expected to consolidate its advantage.

“Our flights were seriously affected after the high-speed rail lines opened,” said Meng Qian, deputy marketing director of Lucky Air. The Yunnan-based budget airline used to offer daily scheduled flights between Wuhan and Nanjing. Meng said the service, which had been in operation for five years, had been suffering big losses since 2009.

This is not the first time in China that high-speed rail has forced airlines to halt intercity flights. In November 2009 flights between Chongqing and Chengdu were halted after high-speed trains started running. Last year, a high-speed line linking Zhengzhou and Xian forced out airline competitors. Aviation experts said that only flights covering 1,500km or more could survive the competition from high-speed train services.