SAS to expand Chinese mainland service
( 2002-06-03 10:49 ) (1 )

Scandinavian Airlines Systems (SAS) has vowed to further enhance its presence in the Chinese market in the coming few years in a bid to meet the rapidly growing demand of Chinese travellers and rising volume of cargo shipments on the Beijing-Copenhagen route.

"China is now one of the most important foreign markets for SAS," Jorgen Lindegaard, SAS president and CEO, said in Beijing last week.

At present, about 32 per cent of the passengers on the SAS Beijing-Copenhagen route are Chinese and the number of Chinese travellers is still increasing rapidly, the president noted.

Since China joined the World Trade Organization late last year, cargo transport volume between the Chinese mainland and Scandinavian countries has grown rapidly, demanding more air transport capacity, according to the president.

The flag carrier of Scandinavian countries Sweden, Denmark and Norway, SAS has increased the transport capacity of its Beijing-Copenhagen route by more than 40 per cent since October last year. It now has a daily flight service on the route with a new Airbus 340.

The airlines also plans to open new routes linking Copenhagen with Hong Kong and Shanghai in the coming years, Lindegaard said.

He stressed his company is working together with the governments of the Scandinavian countries to speed up visa service for Chinese travellers.

The Scandinavian countries are working together to negotiate ADS (approved destination country status) for Chinese travellers with the Chinese Government, he noted.

"For Europeans, it's very easy to get a visa and come to China. But for the Chinese, it's still difficult to get a visa to visit Europe. This is unfair," the president noted.

"There are so many Chinese in the world and they want to visit Europe," Lindegaard said.