New flight may draw travelers

The first passenger (left) traveling on Continental Airlines' daily nonstop Shanghai-New York flight checks in at Shanghai's Pudong Airport. File photo

Travel between Shanghai and New York will likely increase thanks to a new daily nonstop flight between the two metropolises, launched late last month by Continental Airlines.

Shanghai, the East China city, had 4.4 million visits from foreigners last year, 12 percent of which were from the US, according to the Shanghai Municipal Tourism Administration (SMTA). The city expects 10 million overseas visits in 2010 for the 184-day World Exposition.

NYC & Company, New York's official marketing, tourism and partnership organization, said that the city plans to attract 50 million visitors by 2012. Chinese visitors to the eastern US coastal city grew 159 percent from 2002 to 2007. The city gets 28 percent of all Chinese visitors to the US.

Air routes between Shanghai and New York are limited but air passengers between the two cities are increasing, given the importance of the two cities in the world economy and their rich tourism resources, according to Li Lei, an aviation industry analyst at China Securities Co Ltd.

Air China and China Eastern Airlines operate direct Shanghai-New York routes, but they only offer three roundtrips a week, with total capacity of roughly 3,000 travelers.

The nonstop Continental Shanghai-New York flight flies everyday and, serviced by Boeing 777-200 aircraft, can transport nearly 4,000 people a week.

"More foreigners will probably choose Shanghai as a travel destination and Shanghai residents' visits to US are also expected to increase, due to the daily nonstop flight," said Chen Haiming, a tourism industry analyst at Shenyin & Wanguo Securities.

US-based Continental said that 275 of the 285 seats were occupied on the carrier's first direct plane from New York to Shanghai. And the first aircraft from the Pearl of the Orient to the Big Apple was also nearly full. Most passengers were reportedly leisure travelers.

The company is optimistic about demand for the flight in both Shanghai and New York, according to Continental's marketing department. The promotion price for a roundtrip is 3,880 yuan for economy class between May 26 and May 15, compared to ordinary prices typically in excess of 10,000 yuan.

"We are confident of success. Shanghai and New York have the best growth potential for business in their respective markets," Jeff Smisek, Continental president and COO, told China Business Weekly.

The Houston-based airline provides Chinese-customer-tailored services, including popular movies in both Chinese and English, an audio channel dedicated to playing Chinese music, local Chinese newspapers, bilingual menus and in-flight Chinese meals and Chinese-speaking attendants. The services are based on the company's successful experiences on daily nonstop flights between New York and Beijing and New York and Hong Kong, launched in 2005 and 2001 respectively.

"A string of travel agencies in Shanghai have set up collaborations with Continental Airlines," said Simsek. They include China Travel International Ltd, Shanghai Airline Tours, Shanghai Jinjiang Tourist Co Ltd, Shanghai Ctrip Charming and Shanghai Spring International Travel Services.

The new daily nonstop flight has helped reduce tour package costs about 10 percent, according to Patrick Zhang from the Shanghai China International Travel Service Ltd.

"The most important thing is convenience and time saving," said Zhang, explaining that the daily flight allows the agencies to arrange itineraries flexibly.

The direct flying time is 14 hours and 30 minutes in each direction, compared to over 19 hours between Shanghai and New York when transferring through Beijing, Chicago or Washington DC.

Continental is also joining hands with NYC & Company and local New York travel services providers, such as Le Parker Meridien Hotel, to promote travel between the two international metropolises.

Both Shanghai and New York act as major air transit hubs (Continental operates out of Newark's Liberty Airport) in their respective countries, which will help draw more passengers on the flight, said Simsek.

Transfer passengers with layovers of more than a few hours could be a boon to tourism operators. The SMTA is already encouraging collaboration between carriers and travel agencies on short local tours for such passengers.

Traffic for the flight might also be buoyed by the new US visa policies for Chinese travelers, tourism analyst Chen added.

(China Daily 04/20/2009 page5)