Hong Kong and Beijing signed a landmark aviation deal yesterday that will raise the number of airlines allowed to serve the mainland and ultimately add 400 flights a week to meet the growing demand for leisure and business travel.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The deal allows Cathay Pacific to apply immediately for more flights to Beijing and for cargo services to Shanghai. It will be allowed to fly passengers between Hong Kong and Shanghai in 2006. <\/p>\n
Mainland airlines will face greater competition, but will be able to fly to more onward destinations from Hong Kong. <\/p>\n
The agreement was hammered out over eight months by negotiators from the Economic Development and Labour Bureau and the General Administration for Civil Aviation of China, <\/p>\n
It is a forward-looking agreement [and] a major step in the further liberalisation of our air services agreement, said Sandra Lee Suk-yee, the permanent secretary for economic development. <\/p>\n
The number of Hong Kong airlines allowed to fly each of the 45 routes will double to two, with the routes rolled out in three phases to 2006, by which time the number of weekly passenger flights between Hong Kong and the mainland will expand to 1,600 from 1,200. Weekly cargo flights will double to 42. <\/p>\n
The limit on the number of Hong Kong airlines allowed to fly to the mainland has been lifted, opening the door for smaller operators such as CR Airways and potentially for flights to secondary tourist destinations not served by the bigger operators for commercial reasons. <\/p>\n
The bureau's lead negotiator, Wilson Fung Wing-yip, said: We are now able to facilitate any new operators that may have an interest in accessing the mainland market. We were unable to make this kind of progress in the past. <\/p>\n
By March, weekly flights by Hong Kong carriers to Beijing will be expanded to 70, from 59 now, allowing Cathay to fly twice a day on the route; passenger services to Shanghai will jump from 77 to 98 a week. Business and leisure travellers on this route topped 1.27 million in the first half of the year, up a third from 2002. <\/p>\n
Cathay may be disappointed by having to wait until 2006, but it's not a bad result for them, said Peter Hilton, aviation analyst for Credit Suisse First Boston. Their investors will be comforted by a path to a decent level of services in China. For Dragonair, things will become more competitive. <\/p>\n
The deal also allows Hong Kong airlines unlimited opportunities to strike code-sharing agreements with partners on flights to the mainland and allows them to serve two mainland destinations with one flight – though they will not be allowed to pick up passengers or cargo at the interim stop. The interim stops must not include Guangzhou, Shanghai or Beijing. <\/p>\n
Cathay said it respects the outcome, which provides scope for us to apply for additional passenger services to Beijing as well as launch passenger services to Xiamen and cargo flights to Shanghai. It added: We remain keen and committed to better serve key mainland cities to strengthen Hong Kong's position as the predominant gateway to China.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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