When you plan your next air travel to abroad, make sure you try a Chinese airlines, something like
China Southern Airlines or
China Airlines. By offering lowest fares on busy travel routes between India, the Far East, Australia,
New Zealand, right up to the
West Coast of
North America, along with short transit stops at their hubs, mainland Chinese carriers are attracting Indian passengers.
"In the past few years we have seen a gradual increase in Chinese carriers operating in India,"
Indiver Rastogi, president,
Global Business Travel at
Thomas Cook (India) Limited told
The Times of India. "These airlines offer a combination of value-for-money fares and high quality experience that has attracted the price-conscious Indian traveller. These airlines are also popular with corporate travellers who have business interests in China or want to use the country as a hub to fly onward to the
USA," he added.
"The fare difference varies between Rs 20,000 and 25,000 for long-haul destinations like the US and
Canada compared to other carriers like
Singapore Airlines (SIA),
Thai Airways and Malaysian Airlines. The competition price differential for China and
Japan is from Rs 15,000-20,000,"
Rastogi said.
The limited access to the Indian market granted to mainland Chinese carriers has saved airlines like SIA,
Cathay Pacific, Thai, Malaysian and even
Air India from a Chinese takeover on routes to the east. At the moment, all major Chinese carriers fly mainly to and from Delhi.
"Under current Sino-Indian bilateral agreements, airlines of both sides can operate 10,000 weekly seats on 42 frequencies. While Chinese carriers are utilizing this fully, India uses only 1,280 seats on the five flights that AI operates every week to
Shanghai. No other Indian carrier flies to China," said a senior government official. While China has been asking for enhanced bilaterals, the
Modi government's stand has been that they will be hiked when India carriers utilise 80% of the rights given to them bilaterally.
Hong Kong-based Cathay
Pacific and
Cathay Dragon have 48 weekly flights to six Indian cities. While
HK is now part of China, Cathay continues to enjoy its flying rights under bilaterals that India had with
Hong King when it was under British rule.
Among mainland Chinese carriers that operate to India, China Southern has the maximum number of flights with a twice-daily on the
Delhi-Guangzhou (its hub) route, with both flights on the wide body
Airbus A-330 aircraft. Chengming Yan, China Southern head in Delhi, said: "Almost 60-70% of our flyers from India take connections via
Guangzhou to US, Australia and New Zealand. We have a great network from our hub to those places. Indian flyers do not need to wait for more than two hours for their connections."
