|
Airline hopes for Shanghai flight
By Wang Yu (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-09-30 08:53 Moreover, Kellner emphasized that the success of the Beijing-New York
service can add weight to Continental's application for a new route linking
Shanghai and New York.
Despite being in service for just over a year, the
Beijing-New York flight has been successful, with its load factor reaching 85
per cent.
"Based on our successful Beijing-New York service over the past
15 months, and strong business and leisure market demand in the Shanghai-New
York market, we are confident that Continental Airlines will be awarded the
Shanghai-New York route which will start in March 2007," Kellner added. The
Continental chairman expected the DOT's final decision to be made by the end of
this year.
"At the present stage, it is hard to predict who will win the
competition to offer the added service. What is certain is that all four US
airlines are keen to open new business to China, and how effectively they lobby
the US transport authority will make the difference," said Liu Weimin, director
of the Aviation Laws Research Centre with the Civil Aviation Management
Institute of China.
Apart from Continental, the other three major US
carriers United, Northwest, and American Airlines are all vying to
expand their flights to China.
United plans to offer flights from
Washington D.C. to Beijing, as there is currently no service between the two
capitals. American Airlines hopes to add a service between Dallas/Fort Worth and
Beijing, while Northwest has proposed a Detroit-Shanghai route.
"We
understand that Continental has the upper hand in the competition for the new
route, because its proposed flight links Shanghai and New York, where lots of
Chinese people live. However, we also believe the New York area is already well
served by Chinese carriers, such as Air China and China Eastern," said Ai-Phuong
Dang, vice-president of Air Service Development for Dallas/ Fort Worth
Airport.
"In comparison, the southern part of the United States, such as
Texas, is under-served by direct flights to and from Chinese cities. That is why
we think American Airlines also has a chance to win the new route," Dang
stressed. Currently, there are only three US gateways to China Newark,
Chicago and San Francisco.
Compared to their US counterparts, major
Chinese carriers with flights to the United States are not so advanced in terms
of their plans to tap the potential of Sino-US routes.
(For more biz stories, please visit Industry Updates)
|
| |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
