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

Air China will launch direct flight from Beijing to Pyongyang in January.

Not that this is essentially a political comment but Pyongyang is the capital city of North Korea.

It will be much quicker than going by rail. The current regular service Beijing to Pyongyang takes about 25 hours and 25 minutes and, if you are seriously railway mad, you can then connect for a journey to Moscow which takes six days.

Sticking to the far quicker new flight schedule the departure time of flight CA121 at Beijing’s Capital International Airport is scheduled at 2:00 p.m. every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The arrival time in Pyongyang is 4:45 p.m. The returning flight CA122 will leave Pyongyang at 5:45 p.m. on the same dates, and will arrive in Beijing at 6:30 p.m.

The new route will be operated by Boeing 737 aircraft. Zhang Lan, vice president of Air China, said, ‘The new route will offer convenience for the exchanges and cooperation between China and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in culture, education and technology.’

He also said it provides a convenient option for passengers from Europe, the United States and Japan to travel to Pyongyang.

Which, in a sense, is a political statement in that it indicates that North Korea may be going to welcome, if only in a limited sense as in just toe the airport, Westerners.

China will be the largest market for new commercial airplanes in the next 20 years, according to Boeing’s latest market forecast. Boeing said China will acquire 3,400 new planes worth US$340 billion in that time. In addition, China will continue to lead all domestic air travel markets with a passenger-kilometer growth rate of 8.8%.

Following the anticipated surge in passenger traffic for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, the China domestic market will grow nearly fivefold by 2026 to become slightly larger than today’s intra-North American market.

With the continued high rate of growth for China air travel and air cargo markets, China’s fleet will nearly quadruple to 4,460 aircraft by the end of the forecast period in 2026.

Single-aisle airplanes such as the Boeing 737 will be the largest category with total new airplane deliveries reaching 2,200. Intermediate twin-aisles such as the Boeing 787 Dreamliner (mocked-up interior seen here) and 777 will see approximately 750 airplane deliveries. When combined, the single-aisle and intermediate twin-aisle market will make up 90% of China’s total delivery dollars.
Source: China Civil Aviation Report

A long, intelligent article on the challenges facing China carriers.

China carriers are leaping feet first into the international aviation rat race. They already have placed orders for over 100 aircraft with Boeing and Airbus. Boeing predicts China will require 3,400 new airplanes worth about $340 billion over the next 20 years. Boeing is of the view that China’s fleet will nearly quadruple to 4,460 airplanes by the end of 2026.

With a lack of established international networks, China carriers return half or one-third full on the return trips from foreign destinations.

Aviation analyst Li Lei, said, ‘Chinese carriers must first consider cultivating air cargo networks before jumping into the international scene.’ He noted that the ratio between US-bound cargo and China-bound return cargo has hovered at around 6:1 over the years. There always will be insufficient US cargo back to Asia.

Meanwhile cargo rates have been falling while fuel prices have been rising.

Last year, Chinese airlines handled 3.49 million tonnes of air cargo, and about 72% of this was handled by Shanghai’s Pudong and Hongqiao airports.

One analyst said the sudden arrival of Chinese airlines on the international scene may be largely ‘a face-saving exercise’. He noted that while most foreign carriers had used up their quotas under bilateral agreements between their countries and China, mainland airlines still have not used up their 2004 quotas as yet. The article is detailed and worth reading. Click on Source: CargoNewsAsia.
Source: CargoNewsAsia

The US-China air-service agreement allows for one additional passenger flight by an airline of each country in 2007 and 2008, four in 2009, three in 2010, and two each in 2011 and 2012.

The US Department of Transportation (DOT) has announced the recipients. Six of the seven applicant airlines received new route authority, doubling air services between the United States and China by 2010.

Delta will begin its first service to China from Atlanta to Shanghai on March 30.
United, already with the most flights between the US and China, will, as reported, begin service between San Francisco and Guangzhou early next year.
Northwest Airlines and China Southern Airlines will offer daily nonstop flights in 2009 between Detroit and China.
China Southern Airlines, the nation’s largest carrier with hostess in our illustration, will begin daily, nonstop flights between Detroit and Beijing. Flights are expected to begin in March 2009.
Chinese carriers Hainan Airlines and Shanghai Airlines both plan to begin service to the US next year. Hainan has applied for service between Beijing and Seattle and Shanghai Airlines has applied to connect Shanghai to both Los Angeles and Seattle.

Note that Chinese airlines have yet to use all of their allotted frequencies. According to the agreement, Chinese airlines are currently allowed ten frequencies to the US but as of this month only have six scheduled flights.
Sources: Michigan Live and Asia Times