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May 17, 2011

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Bright rosy Chinese skies for Emirates

EMIRATES Airlines claimed that it was profitable in the Chinese market in the last fiscal year as it sold more than 80 percent of its seats and is very pleased with the success of its A380 services to China.

"We performed strongly in the Chinese market with the load factor on Chinese routes exceeding 80 percent on average," said Edwin Lau, vice president of Emirates China, in an interview with Shanghai Daily.

The airline actually achieved a load factor of 96 percent on its A380 debut flight from Dubai to Shanghai on April 20, and 90 percent of seats on the world's biggest passenger aircraft were filled on its return flight to Dubai.

"Markets and airports are two key elements we consider when deciding on routes to be operated by A380 jets. We chose Shanghai as it is being built into an international financial center, and chose Beijing as it is an important cultural market," Lau said.

He added that with the massive promotions to announce the start of A380 flights to China the airline managed "to secure a profitable result in China with load factor exceeding 80 percent." But he did not reveal the profit figure.

About 57.39 million Chinese citizens flew overseas last year, up 20.4 percent annually.

"We enjoyed bumper passenger numbers to Europe from China, but we will also focus on development in Africa and South America," Lau said.

The carrier will launch Dubai-Rio De Janeiro flights and Dubai-Buenos Aires services in 2012.

"Emirates' annual capacity growth exceeded 20 percent on average, faster than a 5 percent increase for global airlines," he said.




 

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