The number of passengers taking flights between Taiwan and China has been increasing since the service started in early July according to the island’s Civil Aeronautics Administration.

The regular weekend direct flights were introduced July 4. Flights were 89% full in the fourth week, up from 83% in the first week.

14,288 passengers took the flights by the fourth week, up from 12,056 in the first.

These figures are not, perhaps, as large as was hoped but allowance must be made for the Olympic effect.
Source: The Guardian London

Northeast China’s scenic forest and ski resort of Changbai Mountain has further opened to tourists with the operation of a new airport.

The first flight, by China Southern Airlines, took about 40 minutes from Changchun, capital of Jilin Province, to the Changbai Mountain Airport.

It is planned that the airport will also serve direct flights to Beijing, Shanghai, Dalian, Shenyang, Shenzhen and Guangzhou.

Changbai Mountain is in the border area between China and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Skiing is possible from late October to June, and it has hosted international skiing events and tourism festivals.
Source: Window of China

Mainland China-based airlines carried 77.61 million passengers in the first five months of the year, climbing +7.3% over the same period last year. This according to the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC).

Domestic passenger numbers hit 71.69 million, up 7.6% year-on-year, while international passengers increased by 4.8% to 6.6 million.

In May, passenger traffic dipped -1.1% year-on-year to 15.36 million.

The average passenger load factor in May was 70.9%, down by 2.8 percentage points from a year earlier.

The five-month load factor was up 0.7 percentage points at 65.2%.
Source: The Moodie Report

China has drafted a long-term plan for development of air cargo, which will require the building of 97 new airports, consolidation of smaller airports and upgrading of certain key airports by the year 2020. The entire project will cost the government a massive investment of $64 billion.

According to the new Ministry of Transport, under the plan, 97 feeder-line airports will be built across the country, the main air hubs will be upgraded, and airport clusters will be set up in the northern, eastern, central, southern, southwestern and northwestern parts of the country.

The ministry, which was formed on March 24, encompasses all the state entities related to road, sea and air traffic.

It evolved from the former Ministry of Communications and the General Administration of the Civil Aviation of China.

By the end of 2006, the Chinese mainland had 147 airports with 45 of them serving both military and civilian traffic.

The program calls for the forming of airport clusters according to their function — international, domestic or feeder airports — and integration of large, small and medium-sized airports. The illustrations are Shanghai Hongqiao at the top and Hangzhou seen from the air.
Source: China Daily

Air New Zealand is worried about New Zealand’s low profile in Beijing, less than two months before it’s inaugural flight to the Chinese capital.

Darline Liu, vacation manager of China’s first online travel agency, Ctrip, said more effort and funding needed to be put into marketing New Zealand in China.

She said, ‘I cannot hear any noise about New Zealand in Beijing.’

Air New Zealand’s international group general manager, Ed Sims, said the comments highlighted fundamental problems. ‘That concerns me hugely.’

Air New Zealand had spent more than $10 million in the Chinese market to promote New Zealand and this simply does not seem to have worked.

Daline Liu said the New Zealand Government’s decision to boost Tourism New Zealand’s Chinese marketing budget by $7 million over two years was not enough.

Too many Chinese did not know about New Zealand as a destination.

She said, ‘Because Chinese people don’t know much about New Zealand, New Zealand should pay much more money to promote the country.’

Education for travel agents was a key link in attracting more Chinese tourists. She said, ‘They don’t know about New Zealand, so they cannot tell people about New Zealand.’

In the past 10 years China has accelerated into the top five markets for New Zealand, and Air New Zealand has expanded capacity from three flights a week to five since starting its Shanghai service.

Ed Sims said flying celebrities out to New Zealand so they would blog about the experience and performing traffic-stopping stunts in Shanghai were more effective uses of cash than traditional advertising.

He said, ‘You have to think who you want to reach and how are you going to reach them.’ As this New Zealand rugby player is demonstrating here.

Personally I think they should hammer away at the scenic attractions and skiing. The writer has written a book on New Zealand and visited every town. He learned to ski near Queenstown. He considers it all magic.
Source: Stuff