Airlines cashing in on growing market

The nation's fast growing outbound tourism market moved Chinese and foreign airlines to run more flights between China and international tourism destinations in recent years.

United Airlines, the main carrier in the United States, is due to start flights from Shanghai to Guam in October. It will be the first regular direct flight from China to the overseas territory of the US, which is a famous tourism destination.

The new route, which will be serviced by two flights a week, marks the carrier's move from business travel to China's leisure tourism market.

Other airlines were quicker to cash in on the booming market.

Both Air China and Hawaiian Airlines launched direct routes from Beijing to Hawaii early this year.

Hawaii's tourism bureau revealed that 110,000 Chinese travelers visited the island in 2012. The bureau forecast that 144,000 Chinese people would visit Hawaii this year, with the help of the new direct flights between Beijing and Honolulu.

Hawaiian Airlines is considering exploring more destinations in China in the future, said Mark Dunkerly, president and CEO of the airline.

China is the largest outbound tourism market in the world.

Chinese outbound travelers logged 98 million trips in 2013, and the total is expected to break 100 million by 2014, said Jiang Yiyi, director of international tourism development at the China Tourism Academy.

Cities in Southeast Asia are the most popular destinations for Chinese travelers and are widely serviced by Chinese airlines.

Air China opened a non-stop route between Beijing and Chiang Mai, in Thailand, in November 2013, after the city became a popular tourism destination among Chinese residents.

China Southern Airlines Co Ltd launched Guangzhou to Chiang Mai and Shenzhen to Phuket routes in 2013. Hainan Airlines and China Eastern Airlines also operate flights between China and Bali, in Indonesia. To meet the demand from the growing tourism market, some carriers run charter flights to popular seasonal destinations.

Both China Southern Airlines and Sichuan Airlines provide charter flights to Saipan, an island of the US.

Dynamic Airways, an US-based carrier, launched direct scheduled charter flights between Beijing and Guam from June 21, and the carrier flies every five days with a capacity for 235 passengers.

"As Chinese tourists are very keen on visiting the US, we believe Guam will become one of the favorable short-haul holiday destinations for Chinese," said Paul Kraus, managing partner of Dynamic Airways.

wangwen@chinadaily.com.cn