Tourist boom lifts Chinese airlines past US rivals

Airlines in China are poised to overtake their US counterparts in shuttling traffic between the two countries as the Chinese carriers benefit from a booming tourist trade.

According to the Centre for Aviation (CAPA), Chinese airlines will surpass their US peers during the peak summer traveling season (July 1-Sept 30). CAPA said Air China, China Eastern, China Southern and Hainan Airlines will offer 2,028 weekly US-China flights in the peak season, compared to 1,853 flights from US airlines.

The change is a big shift from 2011 when US airlines had nearly double the number of flights to China as Chinese airlines had to the US, CAPA said.

Chinese airlines have several advantages over their US rivals and the biggest one is the sheer size of the China market, which is about 1.3 billion people compared to over 300 million in the US.

Although travel propensity may be larger in the US, it's rapidly increasing in China. Zhihang Chi, Air China vice-president and general manager for North America, said at a recent CAPA conference that about 80 percent of Air China's US-China flights used to come from a US point of ticket sale and now this has shifted to a 50-50 ratio. Chi predicts this will expand to 60 percent from China.

Changes in US visa policies are also starting to boost the number of Chinese intent on visiting America. Since President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping signed an agreement late last year to extend tourist and business visas from one year to 10 years, and student visas from one year to five years, the US State Department has seen a 41 percent increase in Chinese applications for US visas. The US issued 351,650 business and tourist visas to Chinese citizens in December and January, a year-on-year increase of 68 percent.

More than 2 million Chinese visited the US last year, and the US Department of Commerce estimates more than 7 million more will arrive by 2021.

Hainan Airlines Vice-President Hou Wei said North America represents the biggest opportunity for Hainan, according to CAPA. Hainan, China's fourth-largest carrier, said in March it would order 30 Boeing Co B787-9 jets as it seeks to expand international routes to tap into growing demand for overseas travel from China. In 2014, Chinese travelers made more than 100 million trips overseas in a year for the first time, up sharply from 8.4 million in 1998, official data show.

Recently, Boeing won a commitment from a Chinese airline and two aircraft-leasing companies for jets valued at 38 billion yuan ($6.1 billion) as carriers in China expand their fleet amid a rise in travel demand.

Earlier this week China Eastern Airlines announced that direct flights between Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province, and Los Angeles will begin on June 30. The first flight linking the city with North America will fly every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, according to the airline.

The US is Jiangsu's largest trade partner, and the new air route is expected to boost trade between the two, according to a Chinese government official.

paulwelitzkin@chinadailyusa.com