Etihad Airways, the flag carrier of the United Arab Emirates
(UAE), will start flying to Beijing on March 30, making it the
third Gulf carrier fighting for a share in China's lucrative
commercial aviation market.
The airline will fly four times per week connecting Beijing and
UAE capital Abu Dhabi. Beijing will be Etihad's eighth destination
in its rapidly expanding flight network in the Asia-Pacific
region.
Etihad will join Dubai-based Emirates Airlines and Doha-based
Qatar Airways to provide Chinese travelers with access not only to
the Middle East, but to Europe and Africa as well, as airport hubs
in the Gulf area are growing into the world's major air travel
junctions.
"We have been looking forward to the opportunity to serve the
growing China market," James Hogan, Etihad's chief executive, said
yesterday.
"There is a huge appetite from business and leisure travelers
for flights to Beijing, especially ahead of the 2008 Olympic Games. Our forward bookings are
already ahead of our expectations," Hogan said.
Etihad is looking to increase its frequency to daily flights to
Beijing and will fly to Shanghai as well in the near future, Hogan
said.
The strong market is driven by flourishing trade and tourism
ties between China and the UAE. The UAE is China's second largest
trading partner and the largest market for Chinese exports in the
Gulf region. The bilateral trade volume exceeded $20 billion in
2007, surging 41.2 percent year-on-year.
The UAE is home to nearly 200,000 Chinese and more than 2,000
Chinese companies.
The annual number of Chinese visitors to the UAE stands at
200,000 but is set to increase significantly, Hogan said, following
the recent signing of a memorandum of understanding between the two
countries to allow Chinese tourist groups to visit the UAE.
Middle East carriers are also benefiting from China's close
relations with Africa as government and State enterprise officials
travel to Africa via the Gulf.
Gulf airport hubs are posing a threat to the historic dominance
of Asian hubs, including Hong Kong and Singapore. They are spending
billions of dollars on development, grabbing a growing share of
intercontinental traffic between Asia and Europe, as well as the
United States.
Etihad is promoting special fares to China with return economy
tickets starting from 5,300 yuan and business class tickets from
16,500 yuan excluding tax.
Emirates, flying to China since 2004, said it would not launch a
price war.
"We are closely watching our competitors, but the Chinese market
has huge potential (for all of us)," said Adam Li, Emirates' sales
manager in Beijing.
Emirates flies twice daily from Dubai to Beijing and Shanghai.
Qatar Airways flies four times a week from Doha to Shanghai and
thrice weekly to Beijing.
(China Daily February 22, 2008)
