Carry on: Xiamen for Auckland, Cathay for Christchurch, Virgin for HK and more

XiamenAir tipped as next Chinese airline
Auckland Airport has confirmed Chengdu will be the 46^th international destination reached by direct flights. Sichuan Airlines will fly from its base in central China from mid-June, with a three-days-a-week service. Carry On understands another Chinese airline, XiamenAir, will launch a service from mid-December.

Xiamen Airlines, as it was originally known, was established in 1984 and is the oldest of China’s modern airlines. Its major base is in Fujian, a coastal province, but it also operates from Fuzhou and Hangzhou. Its major shareholder is China Southern (51%), the pioneer of the seven Chinese airlines operating to New Zealand (including Sichuan).

XiamenAir has an all-Boeing fleet of 145 aircraft, including eight 787 Dreamliners with another four on order. It is a member of the Sky Team alliance and flies to 70 destinations worldwide from its three hub airports.     

Cathay looks south for next destination
Cathay Pacific is the latest Asian carrier seeking to diversify its New Zealand options by flying to Christchurch as well as Auckland. Cathay operates a joint-venture agreement with Air New Zealand on the Hong Kong-Auckland route, which is now being contested by Chinese-owned Hong Kong Airlines.

The proposed Hong Kong-Christchurch service is expected to operate only during the New Zealand summer. Cathay will run a similar seasonal long-haul route to Barcelona in the coming northern summer. Aviation thinktank Capa says the government reluctantly agreed to extend the joint venture with Air New Zealand, despite both airlines reneging on a condition to add a leg to Christchurch. This is a sensitive issue in the south after Air New Zealand cancelled its Japan-Christchurch service.

So Cathay’s bid to fly direct is seen as a way of extending that agreement, which the government is likely to do now there is some competition. Cathay hasn’t yet confirmed any Christchurch move. But if it does it will join Singapore Airlines, China Southern and China Airlines as major airlines flying into the South Island. 

Virgin Australia starts Hong Kong service
Virgin Australia has confirmed plans to launch direct flights to Hong Kong from Australia, with Shanghai or Beijing also a target destination. Since China’s HNA Group took a major shareholding in Virgin, it has done a codeshare deal with Hong Kong Airlines, which is linked to HNA. Virgin sees China as offering the most potential for the expansion of international services.

American, United offer lower fares
American Airlines and United Continental both launched cheaper economy fares on their US routes. Known as “basic economy,” they come with restrictions such as no space in overhead lockers and no ability to change flights or select seats. However, some of these can be bought as extras. Since it introduced “basic economy” some years ago, Delta Airlines now makes them available on 40% of the domestic network. All three airlines say the cheaper fares will eventually be offered on all their short-haul flights, including to Latin America and the Caribbean.

Korean Air gains first Dreamliner
Korean Air has taken delivery of its first Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner and will be the first Korean carrier to operate them. The airline is scheduled to launch domestic flights to Jeju from Seoul (Gimpo) for a month as part of the required certification period, before launching long-haul international routes to Toronto, Madrid and Zurich later this year. Korean is scheduled to introduce five 787-9 Dreamliners to its fleet this year with another five joining the fleet by 2019.

Route news of the week
Emirates will launch a daily Dubai-Phnom Penh (Cambodia) service via Yangon (Burma/Myanmar) from July 1 with a Boeing 777-300ER aircraft in a two-class configuration. This will coincide with the introduction of a direct, non-stop Dubai-Hanoi (Vietnam), also from July 1. This flight will no longer stop in Yangon. Qatar Airways is adding two new destinations in Saudi Arabia to its network.  The Doha-Yanbu service will start on May 9 and Doha-Tabuk on June 19. Both will operate three times weekly.