African flights spread Air China's global footprint

Carrier has 322 routes covering six continents

Air China has become the first airline company in the country with flight networks covering six continents, thanks to its two recently opened nonstop routes to African destinations.

As of 2014, the nation's flagship carrier had 322 flight routes linking 32 countries and regions. In addition, through its cooperation with Star Alliance member airlines, it has extended services to more than 1,300 destinations in 193 countries.

The maiden trips on the new direct routes have been flown, the first from Beijing to Johannesburg, South Africa, on Oct 29; and from Beijing to Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, on Nov 2.

"Along with ever-increasing Chinese investments in Africa and ever-deepening market exploration there, the economic and trade ties between the two regions are becoming much closer," said He Zhigang, general manager of Air China's marketing department.

Modern Sino-African relations can be traced to 1956, when China established diplomatic ties with Egypt. Since then, the relationship has blossomed. Now, China has diplomatic relations with 50 countries on the African continent.

"Africa is now the most significant market growth engine. The scale of annual passenger flow between China and Africa already exceeds that between China and Germany, and is approaching that between China and Australia," He said.

As the capital, Johannesburg is an important city in South Africa. "South Africa is an economic leader of the continent by contributing nearly 33 percent of Africa's total GDP and is also China's largest trading partner in the region," He said.

Addis Ababa is home to the headquarters of the African Union and is also an important hub linking East Africa with other parts of the continent.

"Opening these flights will satisfy the ever increasing traveling demand between China and the two regions, and contribute to the implementation of China's Belt and Road Initiative by providing better transportation services for Chinese companies to go global. It could also facilitate passengers from the Asian-Pacific region, such as Japan, South Korea and Singapore, visiting the mysterious lands of Africa," he added.

Regarding the biggest challenges in the operation and maintenance of the two routes, He said although demand is growing very fast, Air China is still developing in Africa. Air China has much influence in China and North Asia, but it needs to do more marketing in Africa, as the company entered the African market later than many of its international counterparts.

"We need to learn and adapt to the different policies, regulations and business styles in different African countries as soon as possible," He said.

Working with the local members of the Star Alliance is the major cooperation model Air China will use to develop its African business, He said.

"We need the help of local partners in terms of sales and route networks. South African Airways and Ethiopian Airlines are Star Alliance members, so we will share codes with the two companies."

Air China and South African Airways started joint sales on Aug 25.

The two have shared codes on Air China's Beijing-Johannesburg flight route and its round-trip routes between Beijing and Chengdu, Shanghai, Hangzhou and Chongqing, as well as South African Airways' round-trip routes between Johannesburg and Cape Town, Durban and Port Elizabeth.

Addis Ababa is the air hub of East Africa, and Air China has put its code on Ethiopian Airlines' 10 routes from Addis Ababa to third countries. Destinations include Johannesburg; Nairobi, Kenya; and Khartoum, Sudan.

Ethiopian Airlines will put its code on Air China's Beijing-Addis Ababa trunk line, as well as on 10 domestic routes linking Beijing with Chinese cities including Shenyang, Hefei, Kunming and Wuhan.

In addition, Air China cooperates on frequent flyer programs with its African partners, He said.

Contact the writers at lilianxing@chinadaily.com.cn and haonan@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily Africa Weekly 12/04/2015 page18)