Continental, American Airlines Are Awarded Direct China Flights
Continental Airlines and AMR Corp.'s American Airlines won a hotly contested battle to offer direct flights to China, U.S. Department of Transportation officials announced.
Continental's successful bid to become the first U.S. passenger carrier to offer daily, direct flights to China from the New York metropolitan area was widely expected. However, American Airlines' successful argument that increased competition in Chicago outweighed the benefits of Delta Air Lines' plan to offer direct service from Atlanta to China was a huge win for American.
Continental, based in Houston, will offer a daily, 13-hour nonstop flight to Beijing from Newark Liberty International Airport later this year while American will offer daily nonstop flights from Chicago to Shanghai on April 2, 2006. American will become the fourth U.S. passenger carrier to fly to China, joining Continental, Northwest Airlines Corp. and UAL Corp.'s United Airlines.
"This award for new service starting in 2006 will be a big breakthrough for us in the Asian market," said American Chairman and Chief Executive Gerard J. Arpey, who added that American has wanted to fly to China for more than five years.
The airline lost a previous battle in 2000 to offer flights there to United Parcel Service Inc., which yesterday was one of four cargo carriers that received three additional flights to China in 2006 from government officials.
American Airlines' proposal to offer nonstop daily service to Shanghai from Chicago was hampered by United Airlines' decision to offer the same service last year. However, transportation officials noted the U.S.-China market "lacks strong U.S. carrier competition" in awarding the flights to American over Delta, which argued service was needed in the Southeastern U.S.
Officials at Delta, which campaigned heavily for its bid, said DOT's decision ran counter to the government's record of opening new gateways to underserved regions of the country.
"We are bitterly disappointed and at a total loss to understand why Atlanta, the world's largest passenger operation, and the Southeast still have no direct service to China, while Chicago will have three daily nonstops. That puts the score at Chicago 3, Atlanta 0," Delta spokesman Anthony Black said.
Under the terms of the U.S. agreement with the Chinese, Continental could begin flights as early as March 25. However, prolonged deliberation by DOT officials, which led to the announcement more than a month later than expected, could prevent Continental from beginning service that soon. The airline declined to say yesterday when it would begin its China flights.
The new flights were the product of a six-year liberalization agreement reached with China last summer, which will allow U.S. passenger and cargo carriers to fly almost five times as many direct flights there by 2010, or 249 weekly flights.
Air service between the countries has increased dramatically over the past few years, particularly for cargo flights carrying goods from China to the U.S.
Passenger traffic between the U.S. and China rose 36% from 2003 through November 2004, according to DOT.
美国运输部提议两家航空公司开通中国航线
美国运输部(Department of Transportation)已提议选择大陆航空公司(Continental Airlines Inc)和AMR Corp. (AMR)旗下的美利坚航空公司(American Airlines)进入美国至中国的航空市场。此前众多美国航空公司竞相争取开通中国航线。
在此提议下，从今年3月25日起，运载量排名全美第五的大陆航空公司将获得每周7班的客运航班。总部位于休斯顿的大陆航空公司将为纽瓦克/纽约至北京的航线提供服务。
美国运输部同时还提议，从明年3月25日起，美利坚航空公司将开通芝加哥至上海的客运航班，每周7班航班。总部位于得克萨斯州沃思堡的美利坚航空公司是全球最大的航空公司。
另外，美国运输部还提议4家目前已向美国至中国航线提供货运服务的承运公司每周新增货运航班。这些公司是：联邦快递公司(Federal Express Corp)，西北航空公司(Northwest Airlines Corp., NWAC)，Polar Air Cargo和联合包裹运送服务公司(United Parcel Services , UPS)。这些航空公司的新增货运航线将于2006年3月25日开通。
如果美国运输部的提议最终获确定，大陆航空公司将成为首家提供从纽约地区前往中国直飞不经停航班的美国航空公司。
在对所有针对运输部该项提议的意见进行审核后，美国运输部将公布其最终决定。这些意见的最后递交日期为3月4日。
