Despite Downturn, Some US Airlines Add China Service
20 Marzo 2009 - 1:49PM
Noticias Dow Jones
A slowdown in Chinese manufacturing, coupled with the U.S.
recession, has sharply slowed the growth of air traffic on U.S.
airlines' routes to China, but some carriers are going ahead with
plans to expand service.
Continental Airlines Inc. (CAL) on Wednesday will launch daily
direct flights between Newark Liberty International Airport and
Shanghai. "Shanghai is one of the most promising international
markets currently without daily nonstop flights from New York,"
said spokeswoman Julie King. Continental already offers daily
flights from Newark to Beijing.
Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL) said it plans to add new flights from
Detroit to Shanghai, beginning June 3. The airline currently offers
four weekly flights between Shanghai and the carriers' Atlanta hub.
Detroit is a hub for Northwest Airlines, acquired by Delta last
year, in part to benefit from Northwest's strong Pacific route
network.
United Airlines, a unit of UAL Corp. (UAUA), said it will delay
the start of service from San Francisco to Guanzhou, a
manufacturing hub in southern China. United, which has the biggest
route network in the Pacific, now flies direct from four U.S. hubs
to Beijing and Shanghai.
United, along with other airlines, said it will reduce capacity
on Pacific routes as needed to match weak passenger traffic.
In recent years, U.S. carriers battled to win new U.S.-China
routes as the two country's governments signed treaties to increase
air service.
Fueled by growing business trade, U.S./China was one of the
fastest growing international markets at the beginning of 2008.
Bidirectional traffic between the two countries jumped nearly 24%
higher in January of 2008, compared with the previous year. With
relatively few direct flights available, airlines expected each
route to generate millions of dollars in annual revenue. But during
the the course of 2008, air traffic began to tail off, even posting
2% decline in September, according to data from the International
Air Transport Association, a trade group.
As well, major carriers were battling skyrocketing fuel costs,
which made some flights unprofitable. Last summer, five of the
largest U.S. carriers all got permission from the U.S. Department
of Transportation to delay new service to China that they had
fought hard to win. American Airlines, a unit of AMR Corp. (AMR),
which flies direct every day between Shanghai and Chicago, has
postponed additional service to China until 2010.
Air traffic between the U.S. and China is likely to remain weak
for a while. According to IATA, premium air travel, for
highly-profitable business and first-class tickets, on Pacific
routes fell an unprecedented 24.7% in January of this year, as
business travel tanked. While some business travelers are trading
down to economy class tickets, others are canceling trips. With
world GDP still falling, "The bottom for the decline in premium
travel numbers is not yet in sight," the group reported.
-By Ann Keeton; Dow Jones Newswires
312-750-4120;ann.keeton@dowjones.com