CA*/CZ™/FM/HU/MF/MU™/ZH | Mainland China-Based Carriers

[hkskyline]

China's Hainan Airlines to increase Beijing-Brussels, Beijing-Berlin flights

BEIJING, March 12 (Xinhua) -- China's Hainan Airlines will increase its Beijing-Brussels and Beijing-Berlin international flights to serve diversified flight demands, the airline announced Monday.

From March 25, the Beijing-Brussels flights, serviced by Airbus A330-200 aircraft, will increase from four to five weekly flights, operating every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, an airline spokesman said.

From July 1 to Oct. 28, the flight will operate seven days a week.

The flight, HU491, will depart from Beijing at 1:20 p.m. Beijing Time and arrive in Brussels at 5:50 a.m. local time.

Meanwhile, the Brussels-Beijing route, HU492, will depart Brussels at 1:40 p.m. local time and arrive in Beijing at 5:30 a.m. Beijing Time.

From March 25, the Beijing-Berlin flights, also serviced by Airbus A330-200 aircraft, will increase from three to four weekly flights, operating every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.

From July 1 to Oct. 28, the flight will be operate five times each week -- Monday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

The flight, HU489, will depart from Beijing at 1:40 p.m. Beijing Time and arrive in Berlin at 5:30 p.m. local time.

Meanwhile, the Berlin-Beijing route, HU490, will depart Berlin at 7:30 p.m. local time and arrive in Beijing at 10:20 a.m. Beijing Time.

China's Hainan Airlines was among the world's top five safest airlines in 2011, boasting no deaths or losses of aircraft in its 19 years of service, Jet Airliner Crash Data Evaluation Centre (JACDEC), an aviation accident investigation agency based in Germany, said in a recent annual report.

Founded in 1933, Hainan Airlines began its first international route in 2001 and soon extended service to major cities in Europe, Africa, Asia and North America, offering some 400 routes.

[hkskyline]

Airbus orders will depend on commercial needs: China Eastern Airlines

BEIJING, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Luo Yueping, board secretary of China Eastern Airlines, recently said the company's commercial needs will determine whether it will continue to purchase Airbus jets.

"That depends. The decisions are business-oriented," Luo said in an interview with China National Radio.

When asked whether the corporation will freeze or cancel its current orders for Airbus jets following media reports that China has blocked purchases of Airbus jets in response to a controversial European carbon tax, Luo took a vague tone.

"We did not say that we will break the contract, nor did we say we will not carry out the orders," he said.

His remarks came after the head of Airbus's parent company EADS said earlier that China had blocked purchases of Airbus planes worth 12 billion U.S. dollars in retaliation against the European carbon tax, which imposes charges on carbon emissions from international flights into and out of Europe.

The unilateral move triggered immediate criticism from several countries, including Russia and China.

China's air regulator announced on Feb. 6 that it has banned its airlines from complying with the tax scheme.

Liu Shaoyong, chairman of China Eastern Airlines, said the Chinese government asked the company to refrain from making contact with European officials who are involved in the taxation plan.

The move underscores growing tensions surrounding the tax scheme, which many fear will prompt a "trade war" if other countries come up with retaliative policies.

[hkskyline]

Source : http://pic.feeyo.com/posts/558/5587085.html

[hkskyline]

China Southern Airlines increases Dalian-Vancouver flights

DALIAN, March 15 (Xinhua) -- The number of weekly China Southern Airlines flights between the northeastern Chinese city of Dalian and Vancouver is to increase to meet growing demand, the company announced Thursday.

From June 23, there will be five Dalian-Guangzhou-Vancouver flights per week, up from the current three, operating every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, a spokesman with the company's Dalian branch said.

When passengers arrive at the airport in Vancouver, they can transfer to other Canadian cities, including Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, Ottawa and Edmonton, by flights operated by Canada's WestJet Airlines, the spokesman said.

China Southern Airlines and WestJet Airlines, the second-largest carrier in Canada, have reached an agreement to help passengers reach Canadian cities more easily, he added.

[hkskyline]

Source : http://pic.feeyo.com/posts/558/5589185.html

[hkskyline]

China Southern Airlines to open Guangzhou-London direct route

WUHAN, March 17 (Xinhua) -- China Southern Airlines will open a direct air route linking the southern China metropolis of Guangzhou and London on June 6, the company announced Saturday.

This will be the first direct air route linking the two destinations.

The company said that there will three two-way flights a week on the line.

Besides the new route, the airlines will also increase the flights from Guangzhou to Vancouver to five times a week.

[hkskyline]

Source : http://pic.feeyo.com/posts/556/5568109.html

[deasine]

Originally Posted by hkskyline

China Southern Airlines to open Guangzhou-London direct route

This is going to be very interesting. With major changes made to the ow kangaroo route (QF is cancelling all LHR-bound routes with stopovers in HKG and BKK) and the growing success of CZ in the Australiasia aviation market, I think BA and QF should really be worried about CZs entrance in LHR.

[hkskyline]

Originally Posted by deasine

This is going to be very interesting. With major changes made to the ow kangaroo route (QF is cancelling all LHR-bound routes with stopovers in HKG and BKK) and the growing success of CZ in the Australiasia aviation market, I think BA and QF should really be worried about CZs entrance in LHR.

The frequency is still a major problem and I doubt they can ever be a formidable competitor at 3 flights a week.

[deasine]

Originally Posted by hkskyline

The frequency is still a major problem and I doubt they can ever be a formidable competitor at 3 flights a week.

Perhaps not in its initial stage, but CZ definitely has the capacity to make a dent on the Kangaroo route. CAN is one of the most direct major routes on the route (literally the same as HKG of course) and is a much more direct route than some of BA/QFs other transit points, such as SIN and BKK (I'm not saying they are CAN is a better transit point for the record).

CZ has been aggressively expanding in Australia, in Europe with its partnership with KL, and expanding its network in PEK. I wouldn't be surprised if we would see some direct routes from PEK to Australia and to other areas in Europe, including London.

Keep in mind, QFs only other European destination is FRA; passengers travelling on QF/BA's network travelling to other European destinations other than LHR and FRA must make more than two transfers. The only other OW carrier that allows for one transfer to some European destinations is CX, but of course, CX doesn't participate much in the business activities of OW and its carriers. SQ perhaps delivers one of the largest European networks for passengers travelling up to one transfer.

There's definitely a market for CZ, especially with its ability to push costs down so much lower than its competitors.

[hkskyline]

I'm uncertain whether there is sufficient traffic to Europe out of CAN to even beat HKG's frequencies. They can probably compete on London on pricing but is there a visa-exemption scheme for transiting in CAN these days?

[deasine]

Originally Posted by hkskyline

I'm uncertain whether there is sufficient traffic to Europe out of CAN to even beat HKG's frequencies. They can probably compete on London on pricing but is there a visa-exemption scheme for transiting in CAN these days?

As long as the transit time is less than 24 hours, it is Visa-free.

[hkskyline]

Source : http://pic.feeyo.com/posts/559/5591471.html

[hkskyline]

China Eastern Airlines net profit drops 9.18 pct in 2011

BEIJING, March 25 (Xinhua) -- China Eastern Airlines Co., Ltd., one of China's carrier giants, said on Sunday that its net profit fell 9.18 percent year-on-year to 4.89 billion yuan (775.56 million U.S. dollars) in 2011 on the slowdown of global aviation market.

Business revenue gained 12.03 percent year-on-year to 83.97 billion yuan, according to the company's annual report filed with the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

Its earnings per share stood at 0.4334 yuan last year, down 10.19 percent from previous year, said the report.

The Shanghai-based company said it transported 68.72 million passengers last year, up 5.84 percent year-on-year.

China Eastern Airlines had 377 planes and about 60,000 employees at the end of last year.

[hkskyline]

Source : http://pic.feeyo.com/posts/557/5575941.html

[hkskyline]

Source : http://pic.feeyo.com/posts/559/5596298.html

[hkskyline]

China's Hainan Airlines wins Skytrax five-star certification

BEIJING, March 28 (Xinhua) -- China's Hainan Airlines was re-awarded SKYTRAX five-star certification on Wednesday, the highest recognition of the global business aviation industry for an airline's operational performance.

The award is expected to help Hainan Airlines, China's fourth-largest carrier, to expand global business and encourage more Chinese airlines to improve their services and operation to meet the international standard, said Wang Yingming, chairman of Hainan Airlines.

Working for over 215 airlines and 75 airports around the world, Skytrax, based in London, is one of the global leaders in airline and airport service benchmarking.

An airline needs to pass 750 assessments for both onboard and airport services before it wins a five-star ranking, said Edward Plaisted Skytrax Chairman.

Hainan Airlines won the five-star award for the first time last year. It's the world's seventh airline, and the first Chinese mainland carrier, given the recognition.

"Hainan Airlines has kept improving its onboard and ground services to make it winner again of the award," said Edward Plaisted.

Hainan Airlines is a fast-growing Chinese airline that began operations in the southern province of Hainan in 1993.

It is now the country's four-largest carrier after Air China, China Southern and China Eastern, operating on nearly 500 routes to more than 90 destinations around the globe.

[hkskyline]

Source : http://pic.feeyo.com/posts/559/5596436.html

[hkskyline]

Source : http://pic.feeyo.com/posts/559/5598606.html

[hkskyline]

Higher fuel costs drag China Southern profits down

BEIJING, March 30 (Xinhua) -- China Southern Airlines Co., the country's largest carrier in terms of passenger numbers, said Friday that its profits fell 12.58 percent in 2011 as fuel prices rose.

The company's net income dropped to 5.08 billion yuan (806.35 million U.S. dollars), or 0.52 yuan per share, from 5.8 billion yuan, or 0.7 yuan per share, in 2010, the Guangzhou-based company said in a statement filed to the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

China Southern flew 80.68 million passengers last year, up 5.5 percent year-on-year, and carried 1.14 million tonnes of goods, up 1.6 percent from the previous year, the company said.

Fuel costs jumped 39.1 percent in 2011 because of higher prices and an increase in services, driving the company's operation costs up and weighing down on its profitability.

The company said it expects a slowdown in passenger growth this year as the slowing domestic economy and sluggish global economic recovery will likely dampen demand for its flights.

The carrier is targeting an 8.9-percent rise in passenger numbers and an 8.1-percent increase in freight volume this year, according to the statement.

China Southern's shares climbed 0.89 percent to 4.51 yuan as of 1:45 p.m. Friday.