The ability to watch live television, make mobile phone calls and use your laptop connected to the Internet is destined to become absolutely standard on most major carriers. One of the companies supplying this sort of services is Thales which has one service called TopSeries, which is being customized for the new Boeing 787. (Thales is also supplying its IFE systems to Boeing’s rival, Airbus.)

Boeing has decided on wired IFE after failing to secure frequencies in some parts of the world. Without those frequencies, its 802.11n WiFi connection could shut down when flying over the countries concerned.

Mike Sinnett, director for Boeing’s 787 systems, says this set-up will be able to support HD video which has about four times the resolution of the current offering. Which in turn means bigger screens and better viewing.

Lori Krans, the company’s vice-president of communications said, ‘Thales is an active member of the technical committees for World Airline Entertainment Association. When there are technological advances, such as compression rates, members of the association gather to discuss what is feasible for IFE system. Thales does and will continue to offer IFE system capabilities that match the standards set by the association.’

Airlines choosing Thales’ TopSeries line may start with its basic i-1000, which provides laptop connectivity, and then work their way up to the i-8000, which offers DVD-quality Mpeg-2 videos and MP3 audio-on-demand, in addition to Web-based single- and multi-player games.

Four major China-based operators — Air China, Shanghai Airlines, China Eastern Airlines and Hainan Airlines — have decided on this system making Thales the principle supplier of IFE systems for the Boeing 787s in China. Thales has set up a new technical-support centre in the Chinese capital of Beijing.

Note that this only applies to one aircraft maker and, indeed, only one model from that maker. But it is a general rule of airline life that once a facility is available on one airline, no matter what the make or type of aircraft, in a short while it is on offer with all competing aircraft.
Source: APB News

Chongqing Airlines, a new airline 60% owned by China Southern Airlines, may start flying in July. Note the ‘may’. The slight hesitation is because the South China Morning Post said ‘may’ while citing ‘unidentified sources’. Which means it is probably true but it has not yet been officially announced.

China Southern will supply aircraft and technical support to the new airline which will be established on June 18.

The airline will start with three Airbus A320 aircraft. State-owned Chongqing Development & Investment will invest cash for a 40% stake in Chongqing Airlines.

Total investment will be RMB1.2 billion ($157 million) in cash and equipment, with half provided at the beginning and half after two years of operation.
Source: Shanghai Daily

The General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC) has urged the United States to ease its visa and travel controls on Chinese people after the two nations signed an agreement to more than double their passenger flights by 2012.

CAAC head Yang Yuanyuan said in a statement published on the regulator’s website that the US should ‘provide convenience for Chinese in visa applications and group travelling to America, in order to boost the balanced and fast growth of the aviation markets in both countries.’

The accord was announced during talks between the US and China, led by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and China’s Vice Premier Wu Yi.

Under the pact, US and China carriers will be able to operate 23 daily round-trip flights between each other’s countries by 2012, up from 10 currently, while the two sides also agreed to begin talks in 2010 on a so-called ‘open skies’ agreement. If an ‘open skies’ agreement is reached — and this seems increasingly likely — then the number of travelers in both directions will surge.

The Chinese government has made a most serious effort to make it easier for visitors to China to acquire visas. The writer, speaking from very recent personal experience, can attest to the fact that it is much, much easier to arrange a visa to China than to the United States. Matters could be improved in many areas.
Source: Forbes

This is an odd story. LinkGlobal Logistics, a private logistics services provider based in Beijing, has completed an agreement to buy a 100% stake in Germany’s Schwerin-Parchim Airport.

The Zhenzhou Daily, based in the capital city of the central province of Henan, quoted LinkGlobal Logistics founder and chairman Pang Yuliang as saying that the company will pay about RMB1 billion for the airport in Schwerin, which is located between Hamburg and Berlin.

According to the report the logistics firm bought the airport in an auction held earlier this month and won permanent rights to operate it.

LinkGlobal Logistics is now seeking an airport management firm to manage Schwerin-Parchim and expects carriers calling at the airport to include flights from China.

It is said to be the first time a Chinese company has wholly owned a European airport.

Pang Yuliang, chairman of the board of LinkGlobal Logistics, outbid ten other global competitors, including FedEx, Hamburg Airport, and Emirates Airline, in an international tender.

Pang Yuliang told Economic Daily News: ‘China’s vast logistics market has attracted Germany which expects to boost its economy through cooperation with Chinese enterprises.

‘The demand of Chinese enterprises for logistic services to Europe is also huge. If we have our own airport in Europe, transport costs will be reduced greatly.’

The purchase will help Pang Yuliang further expand the logistics network of LinkGlobal, a Beijing-based company. It has a network covering more than 200 cities in China and about 90 countries worldwide.

How will Pang Yuliang pay the RMB1 billion? He told Economic Daily News that a Nigerian bank will vouch for his company, and no domestic banks are involved.
Source: People’s Daily Online

A seriously important move for all airlines in China will be if the government gives China Eastern Airlines permission to sell a stake to Singapore Airlines (SIA). Apparently this is a done deal and only requires some official stamps and permissions.

The first and easy result is that China Eastern, which has been loosing serious money - a net loss of 46% in the first quarter of the year of RMB510.9 million ($66.3 million), after losing RMB3.3 billion in 2006) will probably be turned around and with SIA probably having 25% of the stock, will become a viable airline. The story is SIA is paying $770 million for the shares. If it paid nothing China Eastern Airlines would still have a bargain.

But this deal has far, far wider implications than the effect it will have on China Eastern Airlines. Most airlines of China do very well by economy passengers. The freeing up of nearly double the airspace by decreasing vertical separation in November will make them even better. Where none of them work very well is at the point end of the plane.

The days when carriers just bothered about cattle class are well over. Airlines are redefining themselves as ultra-cheap carriers with zero frills. They get you there safely and on time and that is it. And airlines which carry passengers, especially business passengers, in a style that was not even dreamed of in Xanadu.

This is the area where the war for profits will eventually be fought: providing superior service for business passengers. At the moment there is no airline in China that is even in the race.

Outside of China airlines like Emirates have made it from practically a standing start and cornered significant parts of the business market despite the fact it works through Dubai, arguably the least attractive airline in the world although Harare fights hard for the title.

No airline in China has seating for which it is seriously worth paying a premium. In this area SIA is the acknowledged leader. If SIA can bring some its style and efficiency to China Eastern then the other airlines in China will have to pay serious attention to the pointy end where the high yield passengers sit. It is a fascinating development and the way it plays out will affect aviation in China for the next twenty years.
Source: Channel News Asia