Hainan Airlines' Boeing 787 aircraft sit at Boston Logan International Airport. Photo: Courtesy of Hainan Airlines
Hainan Airlines sets sights on North America
This summer is quite different for Hainan Airlines. As China's fourth-largest carrier and accustomed to keeping a low profile outside of China, the carrier is moving in force into the international market as it seeks to open more destinations in the U.S.
On the website of Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), the carrier filed an application to open a daily Shanghai Pudong-Tianjin-New York JFK with 787 services and five weekly Tianjin-Vancouver A330 services. If things go smoothly, the routes are expected to open in June 2016.
The routes are latest examples of Hainan Airlines' North American expansion. In June, the carrier launched three routes from Chinese mainland to the U.S. in a single week. It opened a direct route from Shanghai to Seattle on June 22, a route from Shanghai to Boston on June 20, and a route from Beijing to San Jose, home of Silicon Valley, on June 15.
Hainan Airlines has opened seven routes to the North American market since it first starting flying to the continent in 2008. In March, the company said that it plans to add 30 B787-9s, a wide-body, twin-engine long-haul jet, to its fleet. It expects all of the jets to be put into service in the North American market before 2021.
In an earlier interview with the Global Times, Hainan Airlines said it hopes to increase its international business income from 13 percent in 2014 to 20 or 30 percent in 2020. And North America will be one of its key markets.
Growing dominance
More Chinese airlines have been entering the North America market, once dominated by U.S. carriers. The change has been driven by simplified visa procedures, growing tourism and more people taking business trips between the continent and China.
China's outbound travelers grew to 117 million in 2014, more than the number in the U.S., according to data from the China Tourism Academy, which predicted the figure could increase by 17 percent in 2015.
In 2014, Chinese and U.S. carriers ran 20,811 flights between the two countries. U.S. carriers operated 54 percent, and Chinese carriers operated the remaining 46 percent, according to a report released by aviation data provider OAG.com.
However, Chinese airline flights from the U.S. to the Chinese mainland have exceeded those run by U.S. airlines, according to the latest data from the Centre for Aviation (CAPA). From July 1 to September 20, Air China, China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines and Hainan Airlines will operate 2,028 flights to the U.S. per week, compared with 1,853 flights run by U.S. airlines.
CAPA said the top North American destinations for Chinese carriers are Los Angeles, New York JFK and Vancouver, and the gap between Hainan Airlines in North America with other Chinese players has started to close.
On Tuesday, China Eastern Airlines opened a direct route from Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu Province, to Los Angeles. It is China Eastern Airlines sixth route to the U.S.
On June 19, Guangzhou-based China Southern Airlines adopted the A380 jumbo jet for its flights from Guangzhou to Los Angeles. Since June, Air China has increased the frequency of flights on its route from Beijing to Los Angeles to three per day. Over the past year, the carrier has also started flying to more destinations to the U.S., including Hawaii, Houston and Washington DC.
However, U.S. carriers have kept their cool in the face of growing competition from Chinese carriers.
Doug Parker, chairman and CEO of American Airlines (AA) said U.S. carriers such as Delta Air Lines and United Airlines remain his company's major competitors. "We will expect more competition as more Chinese airlines join in," Parker told the Global Times on June 25.
As the largest U.S. airline by traffic, AA has six routes departing from Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong to Dallas, Los Angeles and Chicago. Since June 26, AA has conducted its direct daily route from Shanghai to Dallas with a Boeing 787.
In May, the load factor from Beijing and Shanghai to the U.S. is above 85 percent on average, and it could go higher as the industry is now in its peak season, Peng Qiulin, AA's general manager of China, told the Global Times.
