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Chinese carriers are planning to add more flights and routes to India on the back of over 60 percent growth in traffic between the two Asian countries in the last four years.
At present, three carriers from the Chinese mainland--Air China Ltd, China Eastern Airlines Corp Ltd and China Southern Airlines Co Ltd--fly to Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Kolkata. Air India Ltd, India's national carrier, flies to Shanghai and SpiceJet Ltd recently launched Delhi-Guangzhou flights.
Buoyed by the sustained rise in the traffic, the three Chinese airlines are keen to expand their operations, while a few others have plans to enter the Indian aviation market, according to people aware of the matter.
Till a few years ago, there were no direct flights between the two countries and passengers travelling to China had to connect via Bangkok or Hong Kong, but since 2009, Chinese airlines have been spreading their wings in India.
According to International Air Transport Association (Iata) data, traffic between India and China rose from 410,000 passengers in 2009 to 670,000 in 2012, an increase of 63 percent. This includes passengers who flew direct or with one stop. About 65 percent of the traffic comprises corporate and business travellers.
China emerged as India's largest trade partner with a total volume of $74 billion (around Rs 4 lakh crore on Thursday) in 2011, but trade declined 10 percent to $66.4 billion in 2012.
According to Iata, Delhi-Shanghai has been the busiest route since 2009, followed by Mumbai-Shanghai, Delhi-Beijing and Delhi-Guangzhou. Apart from the three Chinese airlines that are keen to increase their capacity to India, a few other carriers such as Hainan Airlines Co Ltd and Shenzhen Airlines are interested to introduce their services.
Hainan had announced plans to start a Shanghai-Shenzhen-Mumbai flight in 2011, but later cancelled the plan. It withdrew services to Kolkatta within a short period, but is again keen to start services to India, sources said.
Email queries sent to Hainan and Shenzhen did not elicit any response till press time.
"India and China have historic route ties. With the emergence of an affluent middle class, it is obvious that the two great nations would have a rise in business connectivity," said a Delhi International Airport Ltd spokesperson. "China Eastern has just increased its schedule from four weekly flights to seven weekly flights. We understand that China Southern is also looking to increase its 10 weekly flights to 14.''
Similarly, China Southern is keen to start services to Mumbai. However, there is a constraint on the allotted bilateral as the Chinese airlines have utilised all the entitled seats. According to a senior civil aviation ministry official, currently, there was no proposal to revise bilateral seat entitlements with China. The official did not want to be named.
"Travel to China has been continuously rising year-on-year. When we look at the break-up, we find around 65 per cent is business and 35 per cent leisure and VFR (visiting friends and relatives). Air China is looking to further expand the current online operations. In Mumbai, Air China started operating in May 2012 with three flights a week and the increase in demand has been strong. From April, the airline will be increasing its flights to four weekly flights,'' said Richa Goyal Sikri of STIC Travel Group, which represents Air China in west and south India.
While traffic from India to China has been primarily business and trade-focussed, in the past three years, there is a growing trend of leisure group travel, said Sikri. "Beyond the traditional customer segments, we also have seen a growth in niche segments such as couples travelling with their interior decorators for 'house shopping', business delegations travelling to study certain manufacturing processes and looking for collaborations.''
AIR ROUTES
Airlines with direct flights between India and China
Air China : Beijing-Delhi, Shanghai-Mumbai, Shanghai-Bangalore
China Eastern Airlines : Beijing-Delhi, Kolkata-Kunming
China Southern Airlines : Guangzhou-Delhi
Air India - Delhi-Shanghai
SpiceJet - Delhi-Guangzhou
