China’s Xiamen International Airport Group has said it is considering partnerships with Taiwan carriers in the hope that working together the two sides could establish regular weekly flights.

The airport, located in southeast China’s Fujian province just across from Taiwan, is looking at various options, including transforming itself into an air cargo hub for flights to Taiwan.

However, we are still at the tentative stage. It has not yet entered into concrete negotiations with air companies from Taiwan.

The state-owned airport group was well positioned for closer cooperation with Taiwanese carriers as it had been taking chartered flights between Taiwan and the mainland for years.

The incoming government of Taiwan president-elect Ma Ying-jeou seems to be leaning towards July 4 for the start of the first regular direct charter flights between China and Taiwan in this new relationship.

Currently, only holiday services are allowed on passenger charter flights, and cargo flights are conducted on a case-by-case basis. Soon — how soon and by whom remains to be decided — there will be regular flights. It will come as no surprise to anyone that American airlines are demanding that they be allowed in on this route citing the open skies policy. Logic tells us this is unlikely.
Source: AFP

The world’s busiest airport now has a direct connection to the world’s fastest-growing economy.

Delta Air Lines has began its new nonstop service from Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport to Shanghai.

According to a study commissioned by Delta, the new daily flight from Atlanta to Shanghai, China’s booming business center, will add close to $400 million to the economy in the Southeast every year. It should also give a boost to Delta’s bottom line.

Lee Macenczak, Delta’s Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing. said, ‘This year, more than 40% of all our revenue will come through international markets and that holds a big profit potential for us for the ongoing future.’

One word of warning.

No one as far as I know has ever transited Atlanta airport without getting lost. Sometimes the staffneed to ask for directions. If you do not know the airport when you are flying out leave lots of time. Even if you know the airport leave lots of time. It is airport’s like this that try men’s souls.
Source: 11HD News

Starting at the end of this month Air China will have a new non-stop service from Shanghai to Milan. In Milan you can get some of the world’s finest tailoring and view great architecture like Il Duomo as shown in our illustration.

The new service will operate on an Airbus 340 with newly built premium-cabin services, ‘Forbidden Pavilion’ as First Class and ‘Capital Pavilion’ for Business Class. There will be four flights a week both arriving at their destinations quite early in the morning.

Mrs. Zhang Lan, Senior Vice President of Air China, said, ‘The new connection will fly more passengers between Shanghai, the most modern city in Eastern China, and Milan, the famous fashion city in Italy. It will also create many growth potentials and open up a channel for traveling and trading. The upgraded premium-cabin service on the Airbus 340 integrated the typical Chinese elements — “Forbidden City” and “Capital City” — have spacious seats, various on-board entertainments and catering, aiming to bring a superior on-board experience for European passengers.’

Currently, Air China is one of the most frequent airlines on Sino-Europe routes, flying up to 14 flights per week from Beijing or Shanghai to Milan or Rome. Air China’s strategic cooperation with some Italian airlines such as Alitalia and Air One gives connections through the partner airlines to other Italian cities.

At the same time Air China is going to increase the frequency on the Beijing-Paris route and provide two flights every day during peak times. The updated service will take care of the extra flow of passengers in the summer.

Air China’s fleet is now more than somewhat impressive:

213 Boeing and Airbus aircraft.
230 routes within 28 countries and regions.
71 domestic cities and 43 overseas cities.
5,000 flights and 900,000 seats every week.
Code-sharing alliance with 20 airlines globally.
Source: Air China

In Taiwan Ma Ying-jeou is the Kuomintang presidential candidate and it is a fair bet he will get the title at the end of May. Prior to that he has said that if elected he will set a timetable for regular cross-strait flights.

His plan is that weekend charter flights be introduced by July 1, with daily charter flights between the Mainland and Taiwan to be available by the end of this year. He said the goal is to open regular cross-strait direct flights by June 2009.

Ma Ying-jeou talked about his cross-strait flight agenda while being interview by representatives from Taiwan’s high-tech industry and venture capital sector.

He said he would start the negotiations over the direct flight issue as soon as he takes office on May 20. He said he would designate airports in Taoyuan, Taipei, Taichung, Kaohsiung, Hualien, Taitung, and Penghu as terminals for cross-strait flights.

He would also open seaports in Keelung, Taipei, Taichung, Kaohsiung, Hualien, Chiayi, and Tainan to direct shipping across the strait.

The opening of the direct cross-strait flights and transport links is meant to boost Taiwan’s tourism. To this end Ma Ying-jeou said he would also open Taiwan to tourists from the Mainland, with an initial daily quota of 3,000 people. The quota would be increased to 5,000 people the second year, 7,000 in the third, and 10,000 in the fourth.
Source: The China Post

Etihad Airways, the flag carrier of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), will start flying to Beijing on March 30, making it the third Gulf carrier coming to China. While not quite, as yet, competing with Emirates in the luxury stakes it is a very pleasant and well run airline. The writer has flown it several times in economy and was very satisfied.

The airline will fly four times a week connecting Beijing and Abu Dhabi. Beijing will be Etihad’s eighth destination in its rapidly expanding flight network in the Asia-Pacific region.

Etihad will join Dubai-based Emirates Airlines and Doha-based Qatar Airways to provide Chinese travelers with access not only to the Middle East, but to Europe and Africa as well. The theory they are working on is that airport hubs in the Gulf area are growing into the world’s major air travel junctions.

This is not essentially true. One of the problems that these airlines have is convincing travelers that they have well equipped air travel junctions. Many business travelers simply will not make that connection.

James Hogan, Etihad’s chief executive,’There is a huge appetite from business and leisure travelers for flights to Beijing, especially ahead of the 2008 Olympic Games. Our forward bookings are already ahead of our expectations.’
He also said Etihad is looking to increase its frequency to daily flights to Beijing and will fly to Shanghai as well in the near future.

The UAE is home to nearly 200,000 Chinese and more than 2,000 Chinese companies.
Source: China Daily