Airport joins the club to lift Glasgow

Glasgow Airport has become the latest company to join China Club, calling it a unique venture that highlights the tourism opportunities in China and Scotland.

China Club, an online platform set up this summer, is powered by China Daily Europe and hosted by Talkholiday, a travel-themed social networking website. It aims to raise awareness of the country's growing tourism market, as well as its economy and culture. Companies signed up to China Club include Dorsett Hospitality International and China Mobile.

"China Club presents a fantastic networking opportunity for Chinese and Scottish residents alike," says Francois Bourienne, commercial director at Glasgow Airport. "It will give us access to some great Chinese institutions and tourism markets, as well as vital business contacts."

He says the club will help the airport promote myriad opportunities, experiences and attractions in Glasgow, as well as the warm Glaswegian welcome.

During President Xi Jinping's visit to the United Kingdom in October, Hainan Airlines, China's largest privately owned carrier, announced it plans launch a direct flight between Manchester and Beijing. It comes at a time when the Scottish government is keen to secure stronger transport links with the world's fastest-growing economy, to allow for greater trade.

Glasgow and Edinburgh airports are both in talks with Hainan Airlines on the possibility of establishing routes to Beijing via Manchester.

Glasgow Airport already works with 30 carriers, including Air Canada Rouge, American Airlines, British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Emirates and KLM, which links it with about 110 destinations worldwide.

Last year, the airport handled more than 7.7 million passengers, its fourth consecutive year of growth and its busiest since 2008. It is forecast to handle more than 8 million this year.

Bourienne says Glasgow already has many links with the East Asia, particularly China, and adds: "A new air route would be both popular and beneficial for Scotland's economy and tourism market, as well as potentially would open up investment opportunities for Scottish and Chinese companies."

In addition to being twinned with Dalian city in northeastern China, Glasgow is home to Scotland's largest Chinese community (more than 15,000 people), which is served by a host of Chinese markets, restaurants and cultural amenities.

Glasgow and China also have many business links, says Bourienne. "It's an increasingly popular export market for Scottish businesses that are located in and around the city."

Weir Group recently entered into a joint venture with Shengli Oilfield Highland Petroleum Equipment that will see the Scottish company supply pumps to China's shale gas industry, while power generator manufacturer Aggreko, which is headquartered in Glasgow, has opened a 5,300-square-meter facility in the southern Chinese city of Foshan.

Meanwhile, Renfrewshire-based oil, gas and petrochemical company Doosan Babcock employs 2,000 workers at its plant in Beijing that produces industrial boilers, and Lenovo, the PC maker, has a site about 5 kilometers from Glasgow Airport.

"In light of these links, a year-round flight connecting China with Glasgow would not only help generate further economic ties between Scotland and China, it would also enhance educational connections, and build more fruitful and long-term partnerships," Bourienne says.

For details on becoming a China Club member, visit chnclub.org

wangmingjie@mail.chinadailyuk.com

(China Daily European Weekly 12/11/2015 page21)