BEIJING - China and
the United States are expected to start a new
round of talks on the expansion of air services
between the two countries this month, a senior US
airline official said. The talks, regarding the
expansion of civil aviation rights, will take
place this month, Athar Khan, managing director
for the Asia-Pacific region of American Airlines,
said during a recent interview. The General
Administration of Civil Aviation of China, the
nation's industry regulator, would not confirm the
information.
Khan said the talks are
expected to allow one additional US carrier to fly
to China next year although he admitted he could
not be specific. "I wish I had details, as well,
but it remains a secret
as
the conversations are to be held between the two
governments," he said.
China and the
United States signed an agreement in July 2004 to
allow the number of weekly return flights between
the countries to increase from 54 to 249 by 2010.
It also allows five additional airlines from each
country to serve the US-China market. Khan's
company is one of the two airlines that have so
far been authorized to fly to China in accordance
with the deal.
United Airlines launched
daily nonstop flights between Shanghai and Chicago last
November. American Airlines, one of the world's
largest carriers, will also begin daily nonstop
service between Chicago and Shanghai on April 2.
"We have been anticipating the opportunity to
participate in the growing China market for five
years," Khan said. He praised the expansion as
good for passengers as they will have more
airlines to choose from.
Insiders have
worried that China's opening of its skies to US
carriers put heavy pressure on domestic airlines.
But Khan stressed, "we work closely with China
Eastern Airlines, our code-sharing partner, and we
have our best dealings with them ... so, Chinese
carriers will mature, will compete on the world
level and will benefit from competing with the
world's leading carriers."
Currently,
Chinese airlines can handle only 80% of the
approved capacity of flights to and from the
United States, whereas US airlines are looking to
increase flights. However, Li Jiaxiang, chairman
of Air China, said the liberalization of the
market will bring more opportunities than
challenges.
China has a large potential
for outbound travel, Li said at a recent seminar
on Sino-US cooperation in Beijing. He added that
the signing of the memorandum of understanding on
tourism partnership between the two countries in
2004 must serve as a source of momentum for the
aviation market, and urged airlines of the two
countries to cooperate more in marketing and
code-sharing to improve the network and avoid
"vicious competition".
