Image courtesy of Beijing Capital International Airport.
Analysis
Then there is the new breed of Chinese carrier, such as Hainan Airlines and Sichuan Airlines, who may pursue alliance membership to boost their international expansion efforts in the near future. Alliance membership would aid these carriers’ international expansion, as they could easily form partnerships at the other end of the route to drive demand for their services. Alliance membership has also made China Southern Airlines focus its long-haul expansion on a hub-and- spoke model. It is expanding its code-share partnerships with alliance member carrier KLM for services originating from each of their hubs in Amsterdam and Guangzhou, as well as expanding its European operations through a disciplined focus on SkyTeam’s hubs in Amsterdam and Paris. Guangzhou–Paris services will be increased from four weekly to daily effective from Northern Summer (NS) 11 and new three times weekly Guangzhou–Amsterdam fl ights will be launched in June 2011 to complement the existing daily service via Beijing. Also, China Southern has also recently beefed up its operations in Australia and New Zealand.
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The rush Down Under
In the last 18 months, Chinese carriers, particularly China Southern, have rushed to Australia.
China Southern has increased its Sydney services to double daily, while Melbourne has increased to daily frequency. The Melbourne services have also been retimed to strengthen its hub operations in Guangzhou, so that passengers arriving Guangzhou in the early morning can easily connect to most domestic Chinese destinations. The new three times weekly Brisbane services have also proven to be popular with leisure travellers and students. Looking ahead, China Southern has confi rmed Auckland as its fourth destination in the Oceania region with three times weekly non-stop services starting in April 2011 and it has indicated an interest in serving more cities in Australia in the future.
Hainan Airlines became the fourth Chinese carrier to serve Australia when it started its Hangzhou–Shenzhen–Sydney service in January 2011. This three times weekly A330-200 service could be a starting point for more Australian services, given that its parent company HNA Group announced in July 2010 that
it was looking to invest up to $200 million in expanding its presence in the Australian market, especially in air transport, airport management and other tourism and hospitality operations. As the Chinese carriers continue to grow their businesses, they will look to operate more international services. The demand for outbound travel in China is expected to continue to grow exponentially, supported by the country’s strong economic fundamentals. China’s aviation market is poised for an exciting growth period in the immediate future, but the key question remains about whether its constrained aviation infrastructure – for instance, limited slot availability at major airports and congested air space – will prove to be a barrier for future growth.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Ong KeeKeat is based in Kuala Lumpur and holds a degree in Aeronautical Engineering and an MBA in Finance. His fi rst language is Mandarin and he is fl uent in Malay and a number of Chinese dialects.
RN
www.routes-news.com
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