CSA to increase flight frequency from Dubai

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China Southern Airlines (CSA) will be adding an extra flight between Dubai and Guangzhou, to increase its services to five flights a week from January 7.

The airline will also be launching direct flights between Jeddah and Guangzhou in the first quarter of 2010.

However, no new code share agreements are on the cards.

"The recession has hit the global aviation industry, yet China continues to defy the downturn. Proof of this is the air traffic on CSA between Dubai and Guangzhou, which has gone up 10 per cent from 2008," said Najeeb Akhtar, Assistant Sales and Marketing Manager, CSA.

"This has prompted us to launch another flight. A daily flight is also something we will consider in the near future," he said.

Without revealing figures, Akhtar confirmed that revenues on the sector have increased by more than 10 per cent. He said: "While many in the airline industry considered 2008 as a golden year, for us, 2009 has turned into a diamond year. October 2009 broke all records for us."

The Guangzhou-based airline now aims to tap into the Saudi Arabian market from early next year. Akhtar said: "Saudi Arabia continues to be a big trading partner with China, and it was an obvious choice to increase our network into the kingdom. "The flight should launch in the first quarter of next year, and if all goes well, connections into other cities in Saudi Arabia could also happen in future," he said, adding: "The frequency would be two to three times a week, with the possibility of a daily flight launching soon after."

However, a possibility of new code share agreements was not on the cards for the airline, said Akhtar, adding that while CSA currently has specialised correlation agreements with the Middle East carriers Kuwait Airways, Oman Air and Middle East Airlines, they were not looking towards partnering with regional carriers.

Over the last few years, Guangzhou has become a major manufacturing and trading hub in China, earning the moniker "factory of the world". The Guangdong province has the largest GDP and the highest value of exports, with the 52-year-old Canton Fair, held twice a year, attracting entrepreneurs from around the world.

Qatar AirwaysQatar Airways and Emirates AirlineEmirates Airline also launched flights to Guangzhou last year, with the latter airline citing cargo trade as an integral part of their overall strategy. In 2006, trade between Guangzhou and UAE touched $2.9 billion (Dh10.64bn), according to industry figures, with textiles, shoes, medicines, machinery, equipments and metals all being part of the commodity mix.

"We are capitalising on this very market, as Saudi Arabia is traditionally a bigger trading market and considered a gateway to the rest of the GCC," said Akhtar.

Talking about competition from Qatar AirwaysQatar Airways and Emirates AirlinesEmirates Airlines, Akhtar said: "Our one-way fares have always been much more competitive, and being a national carrier, our connections are also more attractive."

However, as airlines continue to jet into Guangzhou with its load of business and trade travellers, the last five years have been a mixed basket for China's trade. On one hand, the country's light industrial products market shrank from 45 per cent to 30 per cent of the nation's total exports, according to research company Dragonomics, while exports of heavy industrial goods such as steel and chemicals grew from 29 per cent to 40 per cent in the same period.

Akhtar believes China's economy has a much better chance of bouncing back from the global economic downturn. He said: "Next year, Guangzhou will enter a lucrative period as it plays host to the 16th Asian Games, which will witness a further increase in air traffic and tourism. As the region's economy grows, we will grow with it."

At 50, Taiwan airline leaves turbulent times behind
Taiwan-based China Airlines, which marks its 50th birthday this week, is looking to rebrand its image to face threats from China's aggressive state-controlled airlines such as China Southern Airlines and the region's nimble low-cost carriers.

Starting out on December 16, 1959 with just two Second World War-era flying boats, the Taiwan government supported China Airlines has grown into an international carrier with a fleet of 66 aircraft.

What has also grown with the company, which is 54 per cent owned by a state fund, is a record of spectacular crashes that have made it one of the riskiest carriers in Asia.

Debbie Wu, a public relations expert at Fu-Jen Catholic University in Taipei, said the airline has been rebranding itself lately. "This ranges from organisational reconstruction to buying new jets and designing new uniforms," she said.

China Airlines may, in fact, be a more apt name now than it has been for a long time due to the enormous opportunities associated with the booming mainland market. A thaw in relations between China and Taiwan means the carrier now operates 55 weekly flights to 13 cities on the mainland.

While it faces competitors from both Taiwan and the mainland, the mainland routes are a sure earner due to rules that exclude foreign airlines.

"Increasingly, aggressive and powerful mainland carriers are operating non-stop services over the Pacific and to Europe, which has been the bread and butter for Taiwanese carriers for decades," said Derek Sadubin, an analyst with the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, a Sydney-based consultancy.

By Bindu Rai

© Emirates Business 24/7 2009