China Top Priority For UAL As U.S. Signs Aviation Deal
The United States and China this weekend in Beijing formally signed an air services agreement, further opening access to the world's largest air travel market. In conjunction with the agreement, which calls for five additional airlines from each country to begin direct services in the next six years, the U.S. Department of Transportation approved applications by market incumbents Northwest and United airlines to increase their U.S.-China services.
"Expanding aviation opportunities between the United States and China means more U.S. airlines, businesses and travelers can take advantage of growing trade between our two rapidly expanding economies," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta.
"China comes at or near the top of our priority list at the moment," said Graham Atkinson, United senior vice president of worldwide sales and alliances, speaking today with Business Travel News. He noted that United currently operates 21 weekly flights to China, including daily service from San Francisco to both Beijing and Shanghai and from Chicago to Beijing. Thanks to the new aviation pact, United on Oct. 31 will add daily service from Chicago to Shanghai. "It is a huge country with huge opportunity. The industry in China at the moment is going through monumental change, in some ways like the United States' deregulation 20 years ago, in the space of five years. They have consolidated 25 carriers down to three major groupings."
DOT said Northwest would operate a new daily flight between its Detroit hub and Guangzhou, representing the first passenger service offered by a U.S. carrier to the Chinese city. American Airlines also had applied for new Chinese route authority but was rebuffed. The carrier said it "enthusiastically applauds" the signing of the agreement and that it "will vigorously compete in the upcoming carrier selection proceeding."
The agreement allows carriers from both countries within six years to add a total of 195 weekly flights, including 111 all-cargo flights and 84 passenger flights. It also fosters codeshare cooperation between U.S. and Chinese carriers.
"We aggressively are working with Air China to build connectivity and cooperate more fully on a whole range of areas," United's Atkinson said. "Clearly, alliances are not yet on China's agenda, but it is not that far away. We would be keen to talk in detail with Air China about the benefits of Star Alliance."
As part of Mineta's visit to Asia, the United States today followed the new deal with China by signing a fully liberalized air services pact with Indonesia.