China Eastern to increase flights to India
Monday, 17 March 2008, 19:30 IST
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Mumbai: China Eastern Airlines plans to add one more flight to its four flights a week on the Delhi-Beijing route this summer. The airline is also considering options of having Mumbai and Bangalore as new destinations. As per a bilateral agreement signed by the two governments, the Chinese airline can fly from five points in India. According to the airline, the fifth destination could be either Chennai or Hyderabad. "The market is growing rapidly. It is a good time for us to increase our frequency. The move is also on account of the upcoming Olympic Games to be held in Beijing, for which we have found a lot of interest among Indian travellers," Edward Zhu Xuemin, chief representative (India) of China Eastern Airlines, told IANS Monday. Apart from the flights to Delhi, the airline also operates between Kolkata and Kunming, the capital of Yunan province, three times a week. Xuemin said the airline last year earned around 20 percent higher revenue and registered five percent more load factor than 2006. "The load factor last year was 80 percent," he said. The airline currently has a fleet of 220 aircraft and flies to over 40 international and 100 domestic destinations.
Source: IANS
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