China, S. Korea air travel increases
(eastday.com)
Updated: 2004-03-28 08:56

The agreement, reached last week, will allow South Korea's only two carriers to fly about 58 more flights per week to China with a comparable increase for their Chinese counterparts, according to Kim Hyoung Gyun, general manager of Asiana Airlines' Shanghai office.

The agreement will abandon a long-existing policy of "one carrier serving one route on each side" for those routes which are now served by more than 11 flights a week, meaning that South Korea's bigger airline Korean Air will be able to share the growing Shanghai-Seoul route with its rival Asiana Airlines.

"We expect to launch flights between Shanghai and Seoul during the first half of this year and we hope to take all the 11 weekly flights that are granted this time," said Shin Hyun Oh, Korean Air's general manager in charge of passenger service in China.

Officials in charge of the bilateral air service negotiation at the Civil Aviation Administration of China, the country's industry regulator, were not available for comment on March 26.

Currently, Asiana Airlines offers 17 flights between Shanghai and Seoul every week and Shanghai-based China Eastern Airlines Co Ltd provides the same number of services.

Though the 11 new flights have yet to be divided between the two carriers by South Korean government, officials with Asiana Airlines sense the looming competition brought by the agreement.

"It's unfair for us. Ten years ago when most South Korean companies invested in the northern part of China, Korean Air earned money in northern Chinese cities while we were losing money on the Shanghai-Seoul air-travel market," said Kim with Asiana Airlines. "Now as we gain profits ... in Shanghai, we have to face more competitors."

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