FOCUS ON CHINA
FLIGHTS
GETTING AROUND Chinese domestic airlines have historically received a bad press, slated
for poor safety records and service. All that has changed in recent years, with carriers adopting Western standards and increasingly flying Western aircraft. Today, there are more than 20 domestic airlines in the country, with main operators such as Air China, China Southern and China Eastern offering a high frequency of services to and from most of the major airports. In addition, while prices for domestic flights
are set at standard rates, discounts of 15 to 70 per cent are common. The budget airline sector is also growing, with Air Asia Berhad, Spring Airlines, Bangkok Airways and Tigerair among the regional carriers flying into and around China. Whatever the airline, be warned that traffic
GUANGZHOU RAILWAY STATION HONG KONG
From London Heathrow, Cathay Pacific flies to Hong Kong 35 times a week, British Airways offers a twice-daily service, and Virgin departs daily. Carriers providing one-stop flights from the UK to Hong Kong via their home bases include Lufthansa from Frankfurt and Munich, KLM from Amsterdam Schiphol, Air France from Paris Charles de Gaulle, Finnair departing Helsinki and Qatar Airways via Doha. Or fly from Heathrow with China Southern via Guangzhou, Air China transiting Beijing, or China Eastern via Shanghai.
SHANGHAI
Both British Airways and Virgin serve Shanghai daily from Heathrow, with China Eastern flying four times a week. One-stop options include KLM from Schiphol, Air France out of Paris CDG, Finnair from Helsinki and
GUANGZHOU
The sole service from the UK to Guangzhou, formerly known as Canton, is with China South, which offers five flights a week from Heathrow. One-stop options include KLM, Air France and Qatar Airways from their home airports, while Cathay, Air China and China Eastern serve the city from London via their bases in Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai respectively.
CHENGDU
BA provides the only direct flights from the UK to Chengdu, flying from Heathrow thrice- weekly. KLM flies from Schiphol and Qatar Airways from Doha, and from London, Cathay, China Southern, Air China and China Eastern serve the city via their home airports.
TEMPLE OF HEAVEN, BEIJING
• Flight information supplied by OAG, the market leader in aviation intelligence. Its databases are unrivalled in their scale, accuracy and comprehensiveness, containing data and schedules for more than 900 airlines and 4,000 airports. For further information visit
www.oag.com.
Qatar Airways from Doha. From London, Cathay flies via Hong Kong, China Southern via Guangzhou, and Air China through Beijing.
BEIJING
BA and Air China fly from Heathrow to the Chinese capital daily. Non-direct flights from the UK are with Lufthansa from Frankfurt and Munich, KLM from Schiphol, Air France out of Paris CDG, SAS from Copenhagen and Stockholm, Finnair from Helsinki and Qatar Airways via Doha. China Southern, Cathay, Air China and China Eastern fly to the city from Heathrow via their Chinese bases.
on some routes is heavy, especially at Chinese New Year in Jan/Feb, Labour Day at the beginning of May, and National Day on October 1. Locals corner most of the available seats at these times, so if you have to travel, book as far in advance as possible. No matter when you plan your trip to China,
you should also be prepared for unexplained flight delays and cancellations, despite pressure on airlines from both government and consumers to address the issues. For short journeys, business visitors might
also consider the cheaper option of taking the train on one of the largest rail networks in the world, noted for safety and comfort, and more environmentally friendly than internal flights. China’s vast domestic market will have the
potential to grow exponentially, with both Airbus and Boeing eyeing up the glittering prospects. The US manufacturer calculates the Republic will need 5,260 new commercial aircraft, valued at $670billion, over the next 20 years. Toulouse-based Airbus predicts similar expansion. “Domestic flights within China will be the largest single market in the world in 20 years,” says John Leahy, COO.
THE CARBON COST: CHINA
The table below shows the distance covered by a return flight between London and the destination, along with the approximate carbon emissions produced and the cost of offsetting it with The Carbon Neutral Company. See
www.carbonneutral.com for more information.
HONG KONG SHANGHAI BEIJING
GUANGZHOU CHENGDU
21,012km 20,163km 17,795km 20,755km 18,126km
2.02t 1.93t 1.71t 1.99t 1.74t
£20.20 £19.30 £17.10
£19.90 £17.40
84 THE BUSINESS TRAVEL MAGAZINE
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