15 Jul 2019

China Aviation Industry Newsletter 15 July

American Airlines and Cathay Dragon Launch Codeshare Agreement American Airlines has launched a codeshare agreement with Cathay Dragon, adding service to four new destinations and increased service to three existing markets in Southeast Asia. American will place its code on select Cathay Dragon flights from Hong Kong International Airport (HKG), providing American’s customers seamless connecting service to seven cities beyond Hong Kong. Anhui Enhances BRI Ties with Flights to Moscow A nonstop flight linking eastern China's Anhui province and Moscow commenced on 20^th June. The weekly flight is operated by Russia's IrAero with a Boeing 777. The opening of the nonstop flight is expected to further strengthen the aviation access between Anhui and Belt and Road markets and promote trade and tourism between Anhui and Russia. British Airways to Move All Beijing Services to Daxing Airport British Airways announced it will move all its services to Beijing to the newly built Beijing Daxing International Airport. As the first international airline to do so, BA flights from London Heathrow Airport will no longer be going to the airline's current Beijing destination - Beijing Capital International Airport. "The new airport is located approximately 50 kilometers from the city center and has a range of transport options including a new high-speed railway, "BA said the email from British Airways' Customer Services department. Daxing is located at the center of the three cities - around 50 km from the center of Beijing and Xiong'an New Area, and 80 km away from Tianjin. The new airport is well served with transport connections, including four new expressways, two new subway lines and one high-speed railway. Passengers from Beijing West Railway Station can reach Daxing Airport in less than 20 minutes. CAAC Aims to Keep Airlines on Schedule This Summer China's civil aviation watchdog is stepping up efforts to keep airlines on schedule amid a midsummer travel peak that coincides with frequent extreme weather, including storms and heavy rain. "Chinese flights' on-time performance hit 80.35 percent during the first half this year," a year-on-year improvement of 0.83 percentage points, Sun Shaohua, deputy head of the Civil Aviation Administration of China's operations and monitoring center. The country handled over 2.92 million flights in the first six months of the year, up 7.03 percent year-on-year. Sun said flight punctuality improved steadily despite the increase in flights. However, more delays due to extreme weather are expected from July to August, the peak summer travel season, which will pose a challenge to punctuality, CAAC said. China Sees Robust International Air Transport in May China's airliners served about 54.5 million passengers last month, up 8.7% year-on-year, 4.1 percentage points higher than April, data from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) showed. About 6 million passengers took international flights in May, up 18.7 percent from a year ago. Passenger air transport totalled 268 million in the past five months, up 8.5% year-on-year, while the number of passengers taking international flights rose 16.5%, CAAC data showed. Analysts attributed the robust growth of international air travel passengers partly to the booming outbound tourism market, as increasingly affluent Chinese crave experiencing exotic cultures. Etihad Airways celebrates commencement of Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner services to Shanghai Etihad Airways has celebrated the deployment of the Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner on its daily scheduled services to Shanghai by hosting a spectacular “Abu Dhabi Night" reception. The event took place at Bellagio Shanghai, a five-star hotel inspired by the Art Deco history of the city’s famous Bund and styled on a ‘modern interpretation of Shanghai’s past’. Robin Kamark, Etihad Aviation Group Chief Commercial Officer, said “We are delighted to now deploy the larger 787-10 Dreamliner on this popular route, a decision which reflects the importance of Shanghai and China to Etihad Airways. The new aircraft will help to support the increasing demand for travel to and from Shanghai. In Particular, it will help support the surging growth in leisure travel from Shanghai and its surrounding cities in Eastern China, to the Middle East and beyond, via our hub in Abu Dhabi.” Finnair Grows Its Operations in China, Operates Three Weekly Flight Finnair announced it will capacity to Beijing with three weekly flights to the new Beijing Daxing International Airport, which opens for operation by 30 September, 2019. Finnair will operate to Beijing International Daxing Airport three times weekly as of 3rd November, 2019 with an Airbus A330 aircraft. The new frequencies are in addition to Finnair's daily flights to Beijing Capital Airport. "With the new flights, we are proud to offer even better connections between Beijing and our 100 destinations in Europe", says Ole Orvér, Chief Commercial Officer, Finnair. "Our aim is to continue to grow our presence in China. The new Beijing Daxing International Airport will become a key hub for international travel to and from China and will serve our customers well." LOT Announces Flights To Beijing-Daxing LOT Polish Airlines announced 9^th July increases frequencies of flights to China to 7 times a week. From the end of October the Polish flag carrier will fly from Warsaw to Beijing-Daxing International Airport (PKX) 4 times a week, while maintaining the current service of 3 weekly flights from Warsaw to Beijing Capital Airport (PEK). The connections to the Chinese capital will be operated by Boeing B787-8 and B787-9 aircraft. Permanent Electronic Bag Tag Unveiled at China Eastern Airlines' First Special Exercise at Daxing International Airport China Eastern Airlines launched its first special exercise at Beijing Daxing International Airport. Covering the arrival, departure, connection, and baggage sorting processes for domestic and international passengers, the exercise adopted a present "special scenario" mode to simulate a number of processes, such as services for premium travellers, travellers with special needs and check-in for oversized baggage. More than 200 employees from multiple units including China Eastern Airlines' Ground Service Department at Daxing Airport, the Beijing Branch Office of China Eastern Airlines and China United Airlines participated in the exercise. The exercise also marked the beginning of six large-scale comprehensive exercises of Daxing Airport in which China Eastern Airlines is a part and nine special exercises to be organized by China Eastern Airlines itself. Acumen Aviation © 15 July 2019 All Rights Reserved.