With robust demand for international travel, Air China will start more international routes

BEIJING - From May 2017, Air China will start five new international routes, including Beijing - Zurich, Beijing - Astana, Beijing - Jakarta, Shanghai - Barcelona and Shenzhen - Los Angeles. Against the background of newly started international routes slowing down and business travel picking up, these new routes will give Air China more access to international markets and reflect Air China’s confidence in expanding its international presence in 2017. During the Spring Festival transportation period that just ended, the increase rate of the domestic and international passengers on Air China was higher than that of the equipment the airline put on various routes, and the airline’s payload and operating revenues both increased significantly and better than expected. The demand for outbound tourism remained robust - especially during the 7-day Spring Festival, outbound tourists amounted to 6 million, and Air China delivered an impressive performance on routes to destinations like Britain, Spain, Italy, New York, Los Angeles and Hawaii, with seat utilization of 82.4% on its international routes, up 3.1 percentage points. A look at the distribution of passenger traffic during the Spring Festival suggests that passengers were more aware of avoiding travel peak periods. Families traveling out together increased significantly, helping smooth out the demand curve of the Spring Festival period and bringing good revenues to Air China. In 2017, when international oil prices tend to stabilize and the fluctuations of Chinese yuan plateau, Air China will actively respond to the strong demand for travel, further expand its presence in popular international markets, seize opportunities, and constantly improve its global route network deployment. This will undoubtedly help Air China move forward towards its goal of becoming “a large global network carrier with international competitive edge”.