China Eastern targets 4b yuan from Expo
The Shanghai World Expo that opens in May is expected to bring in four billion yuan (HK$4.55 billion) in additional income and five million extra passengers to China Eastern Airlines Corp, the official carrier to the event.
'We have set a target that Expo-related sales will exceed four billion yuan, in an anticipation of 16 million of 70 million visitors to the Expo,' Ma Xunlun, an executive director of the Shanghai-based carrier, told the China Business News yesterday.
China Eastern will absorb rival Shanghai Airlines this month and increase its market share in the mainland's richest city to 50 per cent from 35 per cent.
To fulfil the sales target, China Eastern will have to carry 25,000 more passengers per day during the exhibition, which runs from May 1 to October 31.
Ma expected that after the completion of the new terminal at Hongqiao Airport in March, 50 per cent of new landings slot could be allocated to China Eastern.
China Eastern connects 70 domestic destinations with Shanghai at present. It would add 206 daily flights from Hongqiao and 60 daily flights from Pudong International Airport this year, the newspaper said.
The airline previously said that China Eastern and Shanghai Air would increase the frequency of the service between Beijing and Shanghai to every 30 minutes so as to cater for demand during the Expo.
Chairman Liu Shaoyong also promised to keep the on-time performance of China Eastern at 85 per cent and cut delays by 90 per cent for flights of less than two hours.
China Eastern will resume two international flights that had been cut during the global economic crisis. Four weekly flights between Shanghai and London and four weekly flights between Shanghai and Moscow will restart from March 23.
The airline last month reached an agreement with Airbus to buy 16 A330s aircraft. The aircraft, which will be delivered from 2011 to 2014, will boost the capacity of the group, including Shanghai Air, by 20 per cent.
