According to a report issued by MasterCard Worldwide the Chinese mainland is expected to record 21.6 million outbound tourists in the first half of 2008 with a year-on-year increase of 12.4%.

The report attributed the booming outbound travel market to the increasing number of middle-class Chinese.

It said the number of China’s middle-class families would rise to 100 million in 2016 from 35 million in 2006 in metropolises, such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

‘This, combined with the availability of low cost travel options, means Chinese travelers form a very influential group which is expected to continue to significantly shape trends in the travel business in 2008 and in years to come,’ said Dr. Hedrick Wong, economic advisor to MasterCard Worldwide in Asia Pacific.

China’s Ministry of Tourism in early January stated it recorded 40.95 million outbound tourists last year.

A joint on-line survey by market information provider Nielson and Ctrip.com, a domestic tourism website, said that about 11% of Chinese netizens whose family monthly income tops RMB8,000 ($1,095) want to travel abroad.
Source: China View

Some aircraft do not take off this fast. China’s civil aviation traffic soared 16% to 185 million passengers last year, triggering government plans for curbs on industry growth to ensure safety.

The China Daily newspaper quoted state aviation chief Li Jiaxiang as saying the booming sector was growing too fast, raising safety risks, and needs to be brought under control.

Volume is projected to surge another 14% in 2008 to 210 million passengers, the paper said, citing figures from the General Administration of Civil Aviation.

Li Jiaxiang said, ‘The structure is outstandingly imbalanced, safety risks continue to rise and economic returns remain low.’

Curbs will include ‘tighter restrictions on new airlines entering the market’ and controls on the numbers of aircraft that airlines can purchase.
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It cited official figures saying that, despite the growth, there had been no major aviation accidents in China for 37 months, a record for the industry.

Li Jiaxiang said that under the new measures aimed at maintaining that record, airlines that have difficulty supplying required numbers of cockpit crew would not be allowed to import new aircraft or open new routes.

The government also placed a ban on new airline applications until 2010 and would more closely scrutinize investors, plane ownership and pilot quality.

Li Jiaxiang, named head of the aviation authority last month, is widely known to oppose foreign airlines gaining greater access to China’s skies. He believes domestic airlines also would be encouraged to open more long-distance international routes to raise their overseas market share.
Source: China Post

Queensland business, tourism, investment and aviation bodies have launched a campaign to attract direct air services between mainland China and Brisbane.

The move comes as the airline China Eastern is about to begin a trial of Brisbane-Shanghai services that will end in February.

Note that all of the states in Australia compete viciously for the tourism dollar. The rivalry is especially marked between Queensland and Sydney. Queensland is not happy that the bulk of tourists go to Sydney at least as a first stop. And a fair percentage never gets past that.

So six Queensland tourist groups have formed the China Aviation Action Group.

Chairman Jim Carden, of the Brisbane Airport Corporation, said success of the China Eastern service was vital to the long-term future of direct services to Queensland. His group hoped to increase awareness among business and tourism stakeholders in both markets of the need for direct non-stop air services.

He said the China market was growing by about 20% a year and there had been 150,000 visitors to Queensland last year.

But a lack of direct flights meant travelers were forced to endure stop-overs at cities such as Singapore, Hong Kong and Sydney. (The word ‘endure’ comes fom the announcement. Whether it is correct in the context of those three amazing cities is another question.)

Jim Carden said, ‘There is a huge opportunity for both Australian and Chinese airlines to service the Queensland market.

‘With the opportunities that have arisen with the resources boom, the sustained growth in the Chinese economy, the attractiveness of Australia as a destination and the Beijing Olympics, we are convinced that the benefits will begin to flow for airlines willing to take on direct services to Brisbane.’
Source: News.com.au

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