Lufthansa looks set to stop offering flights between Frankfurt and Guangzhou in southern China next year.
Although Lufthansa has yet to make an official announcement, flight details for its non-stop Guangzhou service have been removed from its website for travel after March 23. It launched the route in 2004.
Would-be passengers with the German airlines are now offered connections via Beijing with a considerable increase in journey time from today's 11hrs 40 mins to 15 hrs or more.
If the route is axed, as expected, Lufthansa will be following in the footsteps of Oneworld member Finnair. The Finnish flag-carrier inaugurated Helsinki-Guangzhou service in 2005 only to scrap it three years later.
The problem for Lufthansa is that Guangzhou is the main hub of China Southern and a Skyteam stronghold, with Air France and KLM both flying between Europe and the Chinese city.
It means that carriers of rival alliances Star, which Lufthansa belongs to, and Oneworld do not get much of a look in.
Another factor is the proximity of Hong Kong. Some European travellers bound for the Shenzen/Guangzhou region prefer to take advantage of the greater choice of air service into Hong Kong. They then proceed overland using the direct ferries from Hong Kong airport.