Taiwan President-elect Ma Ying-jeou (shown here) has tentatively set July 4 for launching weekend charter flights with the mainland as part of his plan to improve ties.

The National Policy Foundation, a think tank of Ma’s Nationalist Party or Kuomintang, said in a recent report that it had completed the direct weekend charter plan.

The service would begin taking passengers from the mainland for the weekend and carrying them back on Monday noon.

Chen Shih-yi, a foundation spokesman, said Ma had instructed that the service be started from July 4, and be extended to Chinese tourists coming to Taiwan for vacation after Beijing and Taipei work out an agreement.

Ma, a mainland-friendly politician who won a landslide victory in last month’s presidential election, has vowed to further open up the island to the mainland and forge direct transport link in 2009 after he assumes office on May 20.

Chen said Taiwan will open its international airports in Taoyuan in the north, Taichung in central Taiwan and Kaohsiung in the south for charter services. Flight points from the mainland will include Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Xiamen.
Source: TopNews.in

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

Philippine Airlines, an airline which has had an interesting career and is still the nation’s flag carrier, is opening two regular flights to China, marking the the first direct air link between the Philippines and the scenic southwestern part of China.

Departures from Manila for Chongqing are every Monday and Friday. The return service departs Chongqing on the same days.
For Chengdu, departures from Manila are every Tuesday and Saturday. Return flighs are on the same day. Both routes will be served with brand-new Airbus A320 aircraft.

Chongqing and Chengdu are PAL’s fourth and fifth destinations, respectively, in mainland China. The airline already operates daily services to Shanghai and Xiamen, and a five-times-weekly service to Beijing.
Source: Business Enquirer

The China Aviation Industry Corporation I (Avic I) and the China Aviation Industry Corporation II (Avic II), the two largest aircraft producers in the country, are discussing co-operation plans for a jumbo plane project near Shanghai.

Jin Xingming, a deputy to the National People’s Congress said the Shanghai government, aviation companies and some other state-owned enterprises will jointly invest in and establish the jumbo plane company under the guidance of the central government.

Feng Peide, a member of the 11th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the top political advisory body, said it would be a great challenge for the company to build jumbo planes in a relatively short time. ‘The goal could only be achieved with iron will.’

Chinese airlines will need another 1,800 jumbo passenger planes in the next decade which means it has a market ready and waiting.

By definition a jumbo passenger plane is one with a take-off weight of more than 100 tonnes, or with more than 150 seats.

Currently, only the United States, Russia, France, Germany, Britain and Spain have the capability to build jumbo aircraft. Most of the business is run by Boeing and Airbus.

The production of jumbo aircraft is strategically significant for the country although it already builds many major parts of jumbo aircraft completely creating its own version is a much further step.
Source: CargoNews Asia

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