Direct international flights from Sichuan at record high, and rising

Though an inland city, far from coastal areas, Chengdu is reaching out to the world with an increasing number of international air routes.

Air China will launch a direct route between Chengdu and Sydney on Nov 11, the third intercontinental air route operated by the airline, after it opened the nonstop routes from Chengdu to Frankfurt and Paris.

The direct flight will run three round-trips every week, departing from Chengdu every Tuesday, Friday and Sunday, and from Sydney every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.

A direct Chengdu-London flight of British Airways arrives at the Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport.

The airline will be operated by Airbus 330-200. A one-way trip takes about 13 hours.

Zhong Dechao, Party chief of Air China's southwest branch, said Air China have paid special attention to complete their airline network in Chengdu, a key aviation hub in western China.

"I'm confident that the Chengdu-Sydney flight will strengthen Chengdu's advantage as a regional hub and spread Air China's Chengdu-based airline networks' reach to Asia, Europe, and Oceania," Zhong said.

In order to open up the region and build it into an international metropolis, Chengdu has accelerated its pace in opening international air routes in recent years.

The city launched 10 new international flights last year alone, including eight direct flights to Chiang Mai in Thailand; Nha Trang in Vietnam; Colombo in Sri Lanka; Osaka in Japan; Moscow; Jeju Island in South Korea; Mauritius and Paris, and two connecting flights to Los Angeles and Dubai.

So far, the city has the largest number of international routes in China's central and western region, with 89 international air routes linking it to 74 international cities in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Oceania and Asia.

Chengdu has become a major hub connecting Central and Western China to Europe, with six non-stop routes linking it to Amsterdam, Frankfurt, London, Moscow, Paris and Prague.

Many of the airlines that run Chengdu routes have increased the number of flights to the city due to the good performance of the flights.

British Airways increased its number of flights from three to five a week and introduced the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner to the route eight month after it launched a direct Chengdu-London service.

In 2015, United Airlines increased the frequency a thrice-weekly nonstop route between San Francisco and Chengdu to daily.

Tracy Dedman, British Airways' regional general manager for Greater China and the Philippines, said the company saw huge potential in Chengdu, as it moves rapidly into a world-class international aviation hub.

"We are sure UK leisure travelers will be extremely keen to visit Chengdu as well as experience the excellent cuisine and rich culture of China, a civilization much older than our own," she said.

Jake Cefolia, United's vice-president of Atlantic and Pacific Sales, said he was very excited about the opening of the direct route because Chengdu is a city with such unique attractions.

"We evaluated Chengdu for over five years, and we finally picked it out from so many competing cities because of its rich business opportunities and tourism resources," he said.

Cefolia said more than half of the Fortune 500 companies had established a presence in the city, many of which are partners of United and they asked for a nonstop route to Chengdu.

United's research also shows that Chengdu is an access to a market of 200 million people.

In September 2013, Chengdu became the first city in western China to adopt the 72-hour visa-free policy, which allows passengers from 51 countries to spend three days in the city if they have valid third-country visas and flight tickets to onward destinations.

Chengdu plans to open three additional international nonstop routes in each of the next five years, which will give the city a total of 55 international nonstop routes by 2020, according to Chengdu Port and Logistics Office.

It said the city is to be an ideal transfer station that connects Europe, Africa and the Middle East to Southeast Asia, Oceania and North America.

(China Daily 09/24/2016 page18)