Shanghai Airlines to launch HK service
Shanghai Airlines, the mainland's fifth-largest airline, said it will begin a thrice-daily Hong Kong-Shanghai service on November 28, bringing the number of carriers on the route to four.
Cathay Pacific Airways, which announced its plans to return to the route two months ago, is not scheduled to start its once-daily service until December 1.
The two cities are now served 16 times a day by Hong Kong Dragon Airlines and 14 times a day by China Eastern Airlines.
Shanghai Airlines said its flights will depart Shanghai Pudong Airport at 9.15am, 1.25pm and 4.45pm and depart Hong Kong at 1.05pm, 5pm and 8.30pm.
Cathay Pacific has announced that its flight will leave Shanghai at 10.35pm daily except Saturday when it will leave at 3.05am. The turnaround will depart Hong Kong at 6.40pm daily except Friday when it will leave at 11.35 pm.
However, market sources say Cathay has won approval to swap its 10.35pm Shanghai departure with the 10pm slot of its subsidiary Dragon Cargo Airlines. Cathay declined to comment.
Shanghai Airlines' ticket office quoted a return fare of 2,260 yuan for economy class and 4,300 yuan for business class, the same as China Eastern but 25 per cent below Cathay and Dragonair.
'There are no winners when four airlines are operating on this route since demand is not that big,' said Wang Taiping, general manager of China Eastern. The route's load factor is just over 60 per cent, leaving little room for anyone to make a profit or cut prices, he said.
Meanwhile, Air China said it will add Zhuhai International Airport to its domestic network next year, the third Chinese airline to do so since Hong Kong's Airport Authority bought a 20-year franchise to manage the airport in July. Last month, China Eastern launched a daily Zhuhai-Shanghai service while Hainan Airlines began a thrice-weekly Zhuhai-Beijing service.
