China's?civil aviation authority has for the first time
allowed some private airlines to fly between Beijing, Shanghai and
Guangzhou in the winter-spring flight schedule, leading to an
increase in competition on the busy routes.
Spring Airlines, Juneyao Airlines, Shenzhen Airlines,
China United Airlines Co and Hainan Airlines are expected to enter
the profitable market dominated by the nation's three biggest
state-controlled carriers, according to a schedule submitted to the
carriers.
"The new schedule is to encourage competition and is as part of
the aviation reform to secure stable and sustainable growth,"
China's Civil Aviation of General Administration (CAAC) said in a
statement.
China is gradually opening up its airports and allowing more
companies to operate from the country's busy airports.
On the Shanghai-Beijing route, only China Eastern Airlines and
Air China Ltd offered direct service between the two cities before
June this year.
Guangzhou-based China Southern Airlines opened flights on the
same route in August while Haikou-based Hainan Airlines opened its
Shanghai-Beijing-Brussels services in June. Previously only
carriers based in the airports were allowed to offer the
service.
The first private carrier to benefit from the open policy,
Spring Airlines, China's first low-cost carrier, said yesterday it
would open daily direct services from Shanghai to Guangzhou on
Tuesday. Spring said their ticket prices would be around 36 percent
lower on average than other airlines out of peak season.
Industry officials said flights between Shanghai, Beijing and
Chengdu were very busy and the new participants would likely
trigger a new price war. "The ticket prices could be 50 percent
lower on such flights in the low season and they could be lower
with more new players," said a saleswoman surnamed Liu from a
Shanghai ticket agency.
CAAC has also relaxed controls on smaller airports, encouraging
carriers based in six of the nation's busiest airports of Shanghai,
Beijing, Guangzhou, Dalian, Kunming and Chengdu to open services to
smaller airports without having to secure CAAC approval.
The central China city of Wuhan was selected to run a trial that
allows international and domestic airlines to operate world flights
beginning from the city. According to the schedule, these flights
will also stop over in the cities of Shanghai, Beijing and
Guangzhou.
(Shanghai Daily November 22, 2006)