International flights soar in tourism boom

A new A380 operated by Lufthansa is expected to arrive in Beijing from Frankfurt Thursday.

This is the second foreign carrier to fly its A380 to China in less than one month following Emirates, a sign the demand for international flights in China is soaring.

As the first European airline to fly directly from Beijing to Frankfurt, Lufthansa said it would have three flights from Frankfort to Beijing per week, replacing the Boeing 747-400 "to provide customers with a more comfortable tour experience."

One month ago, Emirates started its A380 route from Beijing to Dubai to transport more customers. Currently, it has two passenger flights from Shanghai, Beijing, and Hong Kong to Dubai per day and one flight from Guangzhou.

The Middle Eastern carrier will open A380 route from Hong Kong to Bangkok and Dubai October 1.

"The number of daily passengers is very good," Pan Wang, PR for Emirates, told the Global Times Wednesday, adding the passengers are mainly for business, tourism and transferring for other destinations through Dubai.

"More foreign carriers choosing big airplanes shows international flight demand in China is soaring," said Chen Xiwei, analyst from Guotai Junan Securities, Wednesday, adding Dubai and Frankfort are both major hubs.

"Although the outbound tourism market was hit by volcanic ash in Europe in April, it is now back on track," said Zhang Wei, general manager for the outbound tourism department from China International Travel Service (CITS), a leading travel agency. "Europe is the most popular destination."

CITS saw an income of 2.55 billion yuan ($374.39 million) in the first six months, up 80 percent year-on-year, and outbound grew at over 100 percent.

Figures from the Civil Aviation Administration of China show that the passenger transport volume for international flights reached 10.88 million from January to July, up 35.5 percent year-on-year.

The three industry leaders, Air China, China Eastern and China Southern, reported sky-high net profits for the first half of the year.

Song Weiya, analyst from Great Wall Securities, attributed the profit partly to "a better than expected performance of the international flights."

Source: Global Times