Carrier focuses on freight service
( 2003-10-14 09:35) (Shanghai Daily)
China Southern Airlines Co Ltd, the country's largest air carrier by fleet size, is focusing on the cargo transport sector by launching more freight services and introducing freighters into its fleet.
The Guangzhou-based carrier yesterday launched its new freight service between Shanghai and Amsterdam, which will be operated together with its foreign partner KLM Royal Dutch Airlines.
"We've been placing more emphasis on freight business in recent years," said Li Kan, vice president of China Southern. "Shanghai and its neighboring cities in the Yangtze River Delta are one of our goals as the cargo traffic is growing fast there."
The two carriers will offer four weekly direct freight services on the route using Boeing 747-400 freighters from tomorrow.
The new freight service is part of an air service agreement signed between Holland's transport department and China's aviation industry authority yesterday, which allows for 14 freight services weekly between the two countries.
"The new flight is part of the bilateral agreement and we expect frequencies on the route will be increased to six per week," said Hompe Heijmerink, vice president of KLM's cargo business in Asia.
The new flights will help facilitate trade between the two nations, which is expected to grow 12 percent annually in the following years, said Heijmerink.
China exports high-tech products, computers, toys and clothes while Holland ships luxury products, automotive parts and fresh flowers to overseas countries, said Heijmerink.
With the new service, China Southern plans to boost the freight transport sector's contribution to more than 20 percent of its total revenue from the current 11 percent.
"Our freight business is proceeding into a fast-growing stage during which we will expand our cargo fleet to at least 10 freighters," said Li.
Currently, the company operates two Boeing 747-400 freighters out of a fleet of around 200 aircraft.
"Domestic carriers used to pay little attention to their cargo transportation, which resulted in the shortage of cargo aircraft, especially in the Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta," Ma Ying, an aviation analyst with Haitong Securities Co Ltd, said. "But they're now attaching more importance to the sector which is emerging to be a growth engine for them."
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