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China Southern Airlines
has announced that its new fleet of ERJ145 commuter aircraft will be added to its Guangzhou Baiyun Airport base starting from
July.
“The newly delivered commuter aircraft will serve more than ten routes including
Guangzhou-outbound services to Beihai, Changzhi, Luoyang, Nantong, Yichang
and Zhanjiang”, said Mr. Li Kun, Vice President, China Southern Airlines. In total,
China Southern will receive six new ERJ145 aircraft by January 2005.
China Southern Airlines’ new ERJ145 aircraft are in a 50 seat configuration.
Passengers flying such a commuter jet will pay for only RMB 10 airport tax,
saving RMB80 for one domestic round trip compared with standard route services.
After the New Guangzhou Baiyun Airport is in operation, China Southern Airlines
will create a special commuter check-in counter to handle checked luggage,
offering passengers a fast track boarding process. China Southern is also
to work with local airports to allow passengers to pick-up their luggage immediately upon
disembarking.
China Southern’s new Guangzhou-based commuter aircraft will serve two types
of routes - short-haul routes regionally around the Guangzhou marketplace
including Beihai, Meixian and Zhanjiang offering shuttle services to short haul
routes with those medium and long-haul services outbound from Guangzhou.
China Southern’s Guangzhou-Zhanjiang service will be increased to 4/5 flights
daily and Guangzhou-Meixian will be increased from one to two flights daily.
“Commuter flights will create more transit connections,” said Mr. Li, adding that
“China Southern Airlines had not offered direct flights from Zhanjiang or Meixian to
Beijing as local passengers have had to transit in Guangzhou to Beijing. Once our
flight frequencies increase, the transit connections to Beijing will become more
standardized.”
The second type of routing will be medium-haul point-to-point routes such as
Changzhi, Lianyungang, Luoyang, Nantong, Nanyang, Xiangfan, Xuzhou, Yichang and Zhoushan. Direct services from Guangzhou to these cities have used
trunk-line aircraft such as Boeing 737’s on these routes and has been difficult for
the airline to generate sufficient passenger loads. China Southern's new
commuter jets are expected to meet the current market demands and the airline will be able to
offer one or more daily flights for such markets.
All commuter flights will enjoy China Southern’s series of long-term discounted
fares, including 50% off discounted tickets during the first 10 days of the new
commuter service. |
