14 Apr 2020

China Aviation Industry Newsletter 14 April

China Southern Prepares Move to Daxing International China Southern Airlines has laid plans to move 50% of its Beijing flights to the capital’s new mega-hub, Daxing International, as part of a larger industry effort to prepare for the upcoming summer season. According to the Guangzhou-based carrier, plans call for it to transfer half of its flights operating at Beijing International Capital Airport to Daxing by May 2 and increase the proportion of flights from the new airport to 60 percent by March 2021. Once complete, the airline, which employs a dual-hub strategy from Beijing and its base in Guangzhou, expects to control a 43% market share at the newly built airport. The move coincides with China’s plans to accelerate the resumption of flights as it battles to contain the Covid-19 outbreak. According to the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), Daxing plans for an average of 75 flights per day and an estimated daily volume of approximately 8,000 passengers between April 12 to May 2. The CAAC on Sunday said it had carried out a series of airport drills and inspections in anticipation of the new transfer and is urging all operators “to jointly prepare” for the upcoming summer season to ensure Daxing operates safely and efficiently amid the pandemic. China Tackles Air Cargo Woes amid Pandemic  China has been enacting a slew of measures to establish a green channel to facilitate air cargo transportation as the novel coronavirus pandemic cripples the global supply chain, according to the country's top aviation regulator. Domestic-and foreign-owned international cargo flights in China are expected to hit 4,445 this week, over three times higher than the 1,014 flights made before the outbreak, said Sun Shaohua, deputy head of the Civil Aviation Administration of China's operations and monitoring center. However, with air passenger services dwindling worldwide due to the outbreak, the volume of cargo carried by passenger planes, which accounted for about half the air cargo, has continued to plummet, resulting in a global decline in air cargo capacity. "China will take further steps to boost the country's international airfreight capacity in an effort to stabilize global supply chains," Sun said at a news conference on Thursday. The administration has continued to cut down operational costs of international air cargo, including exemptions from the civil aviation development fund as well as reductions on airport and air control fees, he said. Finnair deepens tie-up with Juneyao Air Finnair and Shanghai-based Juneyao Air have signed a Letter of Intent to deepen their cooperation between China and Europe subject to required regulatory approvals.   The aim is to establish a joint venture on the Helsinki – Shanghai route enabling Finnair and Juneyao Air to offer their customers a wider choice of destination, schedule and fare options via their main hubs, Helsinki Airport (HEL) and Pudong International Airport (PVG). “Despite these immensely challenging times for our industry, we at Finnair remain steadfast in our belief and commitment to China as a key market and to Juneyao Air as a key partner. Over the last year we have built up a close and mutually beneficial partnership with Juneyao Air. Taking the important step to evolve this into a deeper cooperation focused on our Shanghai and Helsinki hubs will allow us to not only serve our current customers even better, but also to lay a platform for further growth in the future, once the aviation market starts to normalise”, says Ole Orver, chief commercial officer at Finnair. How Chinese Airlines Are Responding to the Coronavirus Read more here Wuhan Tianhe Airport Officially Reopens As Coronavirus Shutdown Ends Wuhan Tianhe Airport is officially reopening for scheduled passenger flights after being closed for two and a half months due to the Coronavirus outbreak .The airport in central China's Hubei province was forced to shut down on 23^rd January , as the government implemented a strict lockdown on Wuhan and the surrounding region. No travellers were allowed to enter or leave the province during the time, which has now officially been ended. At 7:19 am local time on Wednesday morning, Xiamen Air flight MF8095 became the first regularly scheduled commercial passenger flight to arrive at Wuhan's Tianhe International Airport (IATA: WUH). It was not immediately clear how many passengers were on board, or who they Acumen Aviation © 14 April 2020 All Rights Reserved.