surfside6
8th Mar 2011, 00:07
Qantas, Shanghai-Paris? China Eastern, Cairns-Sydney?
March 8, 2011 – 9:39 am, by Ben Sandilands There are some awesome implications in this morning’s announcement of a new memorandum of agreement between Australia and China on increased flights.
The headline figure in the release from Transport Minister Anthony Albanese is a 50 per cent rise in available seats between Australia and China using direct flights (ie, not including Hong Kong, Singapore or Seoul for example) from 14,500 per week now to 22,500 from next February.
However the breakthrough points are the offer of additional capacity within Australia to China carriers if they include stop overs in regional destinations including Cairns, Darwin and Broome.
Clarification as to whether this means domestic cabotage, that is, a China carrier like China Eastern or China Southern could compete with Jetstar between Cairns and Melbourne, or whether it means their passengers no longer have to buy a fare on an Australian airline to include such a stopover is being sought from Albanese’s office, and this item will be edited accordingly when that information is available.
The second breakthrough point is however a major plus for Australian carriers serving China now or in the future, in that it would allow them to fly beyond China to four additional destinations of their own choosing.
This raises the possibility of Qantas choosing to offer flights between Shanghai and, say, London, Paris, Amsterdam or New York, something of considerable strategic importance as the China market, and Australia’s connections to it continue to grow.
This is the statement issued in Canberra:
to 8,000 extra seats per week will be made available to the airlines of both Australia and China following the signing of a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) – a move which will deliver a major boost to our domestic tourism industry as well as give Australian travellers greater choice and more competitive airfares.
Compared to the old cap of 14,500 seats per week between Australia’s major gateway airports and China, the airlines of both countries will immediately be able to offer up to 18,500 seats, and from February 2012, 22,500 seats – an increase of more than 50 per cent.
Most significantly, the new MOU allows airlines to offer even more seats (up to 2,500 per week) on routes into and out of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth as long as those additional flights make stopovers at a regional airport such as Cairns, Broome or Darwin.
Australian carriers will now also be able to fly to China via an extra four intermediate points and to operate services beyond China to four more destinations of their choosing.
China is our fastest growing aviation market, with its airlines already operating at full capacity under the previous air services MOU.
The new MOU is also good news for Australian exporters as it maintains open capacity limits on the movement of freight into and out of China.
Last year, more than 1.7 million people travelled between Australia and China – an increase of 21 per cent on the previous year (2009).
Indeed the value of Chinese tourism to our economy already exceeds $3.1 billion, a figure that’s only like to grow significantly in the line with the expected doubling in number of Chinese tourists by 2020.
Significantly, our new MOU with China contains a shared commitment to negotiating an ‘open skies’ agreement, an outcome that would remove most – if not all – of the limitations on Australian and Chinese airlines operating between and beyond our two countries.
There are several things that give context to this morning’s announcement. Qantas enjoys precisely the same privileges for carrying its own passengers between Los Angeles and New York City that this announcement appears to offer China’s carriers between regional Australian cities and its major capitals.
And Broome has a tourism potential that is currently crippled by inadequate border control resources, and a runway useless for operations by larger wide bodied jets over any useful distance.
But the statement is recognition of the rapid rise of the China air travel market toward global leadership, something dealt with in yesterday’s release of the latest Airbus market outlook for the region.
Asia-Pacific to lead demand for new aircraft over next 20 years
Requirement for 8,560 new aircraft valued at $1.2 trillion
Asia-Pacific airlines are expected to take delivery of around 8,560 new aircraft over the next 20 years, according to European aircraft manufacturer Airbus. Valued at US$1.2 trillion, the requirement represents 33 per cent of new aircraft deliveries worldwide over the forecast period, with the region overtaking North America and Europe as the largest air transport market.
The latest forecast for the region was presented in Hong Kong today by Chris Emerson, Senior Vice President Product Strategy and Market Forecast.
The Airbus forecast is based on stronger than average growth in both passenger and freight traffic in the region, combined with replacement of many of the existing aircraft in service. In terms of growth, Airbus expects the number of passengers carried by Asia-Pacific airlines to rise by 5.8 per cent per year while the amount of freight passing through the region will increase by 7.0 per cent annually. This compares with global average increases of 4.8 per cent in the passenger market and 5.9 per cent for cargo. At the same time, carriers in the region are expected to replace 78 per cent of the 3,680 aircraft currently in service, ensuring that they continue to operate some of the youngest and most eco-efficient fleets in the world.
Airbus predicts that the region will continue to drive demand for larger aircraft types, reflecting the concentration of populations in the region around the main urban centres and the need for more seats between fast-growing mega-cities. As a result, carriers in the region will acquire around 3,360 new widebody aircraft over the next two decades. This represents 40 per cent of all widebody deliveries worldwide and includes some 780 very large aircraft such as the A380 and around 2,580 twin aisle widebodies such as the A330 and new A350 XWB.
Although a predominantly widebody market, demand for single aisle aircraft in the region is expected to accelerate in the coming years, with a requirement for some 5,200 new airliners in the 100 – 210 seat category, such as the best-selling A320 Family. The increase will be driven primarily by the growth of low cost carriers , as well as the opening of new secondary short haul routes, especially in China, India and South East Asia.
*
March 8, 2011 – 9:39 am, by Ben Sandilands There are some awesome implications in this morning’s announcement of a new memorandum of agreement between Australia and China on increased flights.
The headline figure in the release from Transport Minister Anthony Albanese is a 50 per cent rise in available seats between Australia and China using direct flights (ie, not including Hong Kong, Singapore or Seoul for example) from 14,500 per week now to 22,500 from next February.
However the breakthrough points are the offer of additional capacity within Australia to China carriers if they include stop overs in regional destinations including Cairns, Darwin and Broome.
Clarification as to whether this means domestic cabotage, that is, a China carrier like China Eastern or China Southern could compete with Jetstar between Cairns and Melbourne, or whether it means their passengers no longer have to buy a fare on an Australian airline to include such a stopover is being sought from Albanese’s office, and this item will be edited accordingly when that information is available.
The second breakthrough point is however a major plus for Australian carriers serving China now or in the future, in that it would allow them to fly beyond China to four additional destinations of their own choosing.
This raises the possibility of Qantas choosing to offer flights between Shanghai and, say, London, Paris, Amsterdam or New York, something of considerable strategic importance as the China market, and Australia’s connections to it continue to grow.
This is the statement issued in Canberra:
to 8,000 extra seats per week will be made available to the airlines of both Australia and China following the signing of a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) – a move which will deliver a major boost to our domestic tourism industry as well as give Australian travellers greater choice and more competitive airfares.
Compared to the old cap of 14,500 seats per week between Australia’s major gateway airports and China, the airlines of both countries will immediately be able to offer up to 18,500 seats, and from February 2012, 22,500 seats – an increase of more than 50 per cent.
Most significantly, the new MOU allows airlines to offer even more seats (up to 2,500 per week) on routes into and out of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth as long as those additional flights make stopovers at a regional airport such as Cairns, Broome or Darwin.
Australian carriers will now also be able to fly to China via an extra four intermediate points and to operate services beyond China to four more destinations of their choosing.
China is our fastest growing aviation market, with its airlines already operating at full capacity under the previous air services MOU.
The new MOU is also good news for Australian exporters as it maintains open capacity limits on the movement of freight into and out of China.
Last year, more than 1.7 million people travelled between Australia and China – an increase of 21 per cent on the previous year (2009).
Indeed the value of Chinese tourism to our economy already exceeds $3.1 billion, a figure that’s only like to grow significantly in the line with the expected doubling in number of Chinese tourists by 2020.
Significantly, our new MOU with China contains a shared commitment to negotiating an ‘open skies’ agreement, an outcome that would remove most – if not all – of the limitations on Australian and Chinese airlines operating between and beyond our two countries.
There are several things that give context to this morning’s announcement. Qantas enjoys precisely the same privileges for carrying its own passengers between Los Angeles and New York City that this announcement appears to offer China’s carriers between regional Australian cities and its major capitals.
And Broome has a tourism potential that is currently crippled by inadequate border control resources, and a runway useless for operations by larger wide bodied jets over any useful distance.
But the statement is recognition of the rapid rise of the China air travel market toward global leadership, something dealt with in yesterday’s release of the latest Airbus market outlook for the region.
Asia-Pacific to lead demand for new aircraft over next 20 years
Requirement for 8,560 new aircraft valued at $1.2 trillion
Asia-Pacific airlines are expected to take delivery of around 8,560 new aircraft over the next 20 years, according to European aircraft manufacturer Airbus. Valued at US$1.2 trillion, the requirement represents 33 per cent of new aircraft deliveries worldwide over the forecast period, with the region overtaking North America and Europe as the largest air transport market.
The latest forecast for the region was presented in Hong Kong today by Chris Emerson, Senior Vice President Product Strategy and Market Forecast.
The Airbus forecast is based on stronger than average growth in both passenger and freight traffic in the region, combined with replacement of many of the existing aircraft in service. In terms of growth, Airbus expects the number of passengers carried by Asia-Pacific airlines to rise by 5.8 per cent per year while the amount of freight passing through the region will increase by 7.0 per cent annually. This compares with global average increases of 4.8 per cent in the passenger market and 5.9 per cent for cargo. At the same time, carriers in the region are expected to replace 78 per cent of the 3,680 aircraft currently in service, ensuring that they continue to operate some of the youngest and most eco-efficient fleets in the world.
Airbus predicts that the region will continue to drive demand for larger aircraft types, reflecting the concentration of populations in the region around the main urban centres and the need for more seats between fast-growing mega-cities. As a result, carriers in the region will acquire around 3,360 new widebody aircraft over the next two decades. This represents 40 per cent of all widebody deliveries worldwide and includes some 780 very large aircraft such as the A380 and around 2,580 twin aisle widebodies such as the A330 and new A350 XWB.
Although a predominantly widebody market, demand for single aisle aircraft in the region is expected to accelerate in the coming years, with a requirement for some 5,200 new airliners in the 100 – 210 seat category, such as the best-selling A320 Family. The increase will be driven primarily by the growth of low cost carriers , as well as the opening of new secondary short haul routes, especially in China, India and South East Asia.
*