BA and Virgin to vie for China route - FT

[marcogiov]

BA and Virgin to vie for China route
By Kevin Done, Aerospace Correspondent - Financial Times
Published: January 26 2005 18:42 | Last updated: January 26 2005 18:42


British Airways and Virgin Atlantic are planning to enter into head-to-head competition on the routes between London Heathrow and Shanghai and Beijing, subject to approval by the Chinese authorities.

At present BA's only Chinese routes are to Beijing and Hong Kong, while Virgin Atlantic flies to Shanghai and last month also began flights to Hong Kong as the staging point for its new route to Sydney.

Virgin Atlantic said on Wednesday that it planned to start a daily Beijing service “as soon as possible,” challenging the existing BA service, and said it would increase its Heathrow/Shanghai service from five to seven a week from October 30.

BA said it hoped to fly five times a week to Shanghai and was in discussions with the Chinese authorities to acquire take off and landing slots at Shanghai Pudong airport, which is due to open a second runway.

It was also planning to increase its Beijing/Heathrow service from four to six a week from June, and its Hong Kong/Heathrow service from 17 to 21 flights a week.

Last week China signed a memorandum of understanding with the UK government recognising the UK's “approved destination status,” which will allow selected Chinese tour operators to sell UK leisure tours to Chinese citizens.

Following a previous deal liberalising air traffic rights between the UK and mainland China, the number of weekly frequencies available to UK carriers to fly to China will rise from 15 passenger and five cargo flights in the summer of 2004 to 25 passenger and six cargo flights this summer and to 31 passenger and seven cargo flights in the summer of 2006.

BA and Virgin Atlantic are also currently competing for additional traffic rights on routes to India and have both appealed to the UK government against the findings of a recent ruling by the UK Civil Aviation Authority sharing the rights among three UK carriers including BMI British Midland.

[fly_TRN]

Ah... pensavo volessero fare feederaggio per Austrian!