China Eastern Airlines eyes 5 million China-US tourists as it boosts North America capacity
China Eastern Airlines plans to boost its capacity to North America by 50 per cent in 2016 to tap the rapidly growing travel market between China and the US in the China-US tourism year, chief executive Ma Xulun said in an interview with the South China Morning Post on Friday.
“Air travel between the two countries is expected to rise to more than 5 million [passengers] this year, with about 3 million being US-bound from China. We have great confidence in the market and hope to capture as much of this opportunity as possible,” Ma said.
He added that the airline is also looking to capture more than half of the 3 to 4 million additional air travellers expected after Disneyland Shanghai opens in June.
China Eastern last year introduced Delta Airlines as a 3.5 per cent strategic shareholder in a landmark deal worth US$450 million.
China Eastern transported 1.12 million passengers on China-US routes last year according to Dong Bo, chief marketing officer and general manager of its marketing and sales committee. “Our capacity increase in 2016 will be about 50 per cent,” Dong said.
We have great confidence in the market and hope to capture as much of this opportunity as possible
The mainland Chinese airline on Wednesday reported a 33 per cent profit rise to 4.54 billion yuan (HK$5.4 billion) in 2015. Ma said all of China Eastern’s US routes turned in profits last year and that flights to New York and to Los Angeles were among its top 10 most profitable routes.
