People in China are outraged after photos were posted of an Air China jetliner with its hatch improperly closed.

A Weibo user named “fishtimes” took the photographs on February 16 at Beijing International Airport. The photographs show the handle on the front passenger door in a vertical position, and not locked in the horizontal position.

Netizens were quick to criticize what they perceived as a lapse in safety. One user described it as being “very scary” while another added:”If (airlines) aren’t going to be responsible, then (I’m) not going to take them.”

Air China said yesterday that it has identified the flight in question as B5570 and will conduct a full investigation. Air China also said its staff check and verify all airplane equipment and records for that flight show all checks were done.

A Boeing expert said there were two possible explanations for the unsecured hatch: either the flight crew did not properly close the door, or the sealing mechanism malfunctioned, which would indicate a mechanical problem. In both scenarios, the expert said passengers were not as risk as air pressure in the cabin be maintained. But, he said, it could take the flight slightly off its regular flight path.

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The new Addis Ababa–Lome–Rio de Janeiro–Sao Paulo service is marketed as a seamless gateway to Asia.
Ethiopian hopes to use Addis Ababa to its advantage but joins a long list of airlines competing on the Latin American-Asia route.

Crucially, it will be the sole operator between Addis Ababa and Brazil. However, its conservative approach means a non-direct flight will operate to build demand. Time will tell if the market takes off.

Ethiopian is one the better airlines on the African continent with ambition and vision, but the reality is they are up against bigger, legacy carriers such as Air China and Singapore Airlines.

Guangzhou’s thriving African expat community creates a demand for service between the city and Africa, which Ethiopian is looking to exploit. Conservative estimates put the number of Africans in Guangzhou at 20,000, but it could be as high as 150,000, according to the Globe and Mail:

There are at least 20,000 Africans, mostly from West African nations such as Nigeria, Ghana and Mali, living legally in Guangzhou, a city of about 12 million. The number could be as high as 150,000 if you include the many illegals and those temporarily in the city chasing business opportunities.

The demand is there but the big question is whether it will all work.

Generally, non-SkyTeam alliance carriers have a tougher job of competing with the dominant China Southern.

However, Emirates competes with the Guangzhou-based carrier on the Dubai route. And it has no problem filling planes with feeder traffic transiting at its Dubai hub coming from all over the world. It’s a big airline with a well-established frequent-flyer program – and officially claims the shortest LatAm-Asia service.

That being said, from Guangzhou, Ethiopian has no other feeder traffic or much help from fellow Star Alliance members, but as CAPA reports, it doesn’t have a problem filling planes, which is why it switched to a daily service late last year.

Since Ethiopian has been clipped by the grounding of Boeing’s 787 Dreamliners worldwide, the plan may not even leave the gate if it’s new planes are not back in service by June.

Without these aircraft, Ethiopian’s five 777-200LR would not have sufficient capacity to cover its existing long-haul network to Beijing, Guangzhou, Toronto and Washington Dulles, as well as a direct Hong Kong service.

We say watch this space.

Images: BriYYZ/Flickr and CAPA

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The SCMP is reporting that mainland carriers have amassed RMB1 billion (US$160 million) in losses in the last three months, with pressure coming from China’s ever-expanding high-speed rail network.

Those suffering include Guangzhou-based China Southern Airlines, the biggest of the major domestic carriers, whose revenue per kilometer – a measurement of the available seats sold – fell 1 per cent year-on-year. By comparison, Air China shed 1.5 per cent and China Eastern slumped 2 per cent.

But those statistics don’t really tell the story of last year.

China Southern, which is ramping up capacity with the introduction of five Airbus A380s, is putting more resources into its long-haul operations. The newly appointed ‘Canton Route’ is part of the new international focus. At the same time, it is having to contend with soaring jet-fuel prices.

Here is a significant line from the general manager Tan Wangeng carried in CAPA revealing the extent of today’s problems:

All of the carrier’s 30 weekly services from Guangzhou to Australia and New Zealand are profitable, the result of the carrier’s strategic transformation into an international network carrier (Xinhua, 06-Feb-2013). According to Mr Tan, the majority of Chinese carrier’s international routes are making losses.

With high-speed rail supercharging national connectivity, it’s going some way to put downward pressure on airfares, placing it at odds with the state-backed carriers.

Here’s what MF Global’s greater China transport analyst Geoffrey Cheng told SCMP’s Charlotte So:

“The diversion to high-speed trains has become more and more serious as the memory of the high-speed-train tragedy in Wenzhou in 2011 fades out.”

The situation has been made worse by airlines boosting capacity in expectation of a brisk Chinese New Year. Now, rock-bottom prices are in the system to try and fill seats.

While lagging, aviation analysts CAPA say growth will more than make up for short-term sluggishness. They says airlines can absorb a 3 per cent capacity cut in 2013.

If the 3% drop in capacity is entirely correlated to HSR, the one-year drop would be made up for in coming years with higher growth.

With the Chinese government tightly controlling aircraft imports, demand generally exceeds supply, which would allow any excess capacity on a route to be re-deployed.

CAPA has also conducted more of a detailed analysis on the impact of high-speed rail in China.

HSR holds an advantage over air travel on sectors under 800km. Between 800-1200km there could be a tradeoff depending on factors including how direct the train tracks are and what the fare difference is. Above 1200km air travel will almost always hold an advantage.

Seems pretty straight forward.

China Southern’s biggest high-speed rail threats are from Guangzhou to Wuhan (1020 km) and Beijing (2170km).

Image: Danny Lee

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Stars align for Shenzhen Airlines
Shenzhen Airlines, China’s fourth largest carrier, has been handed a “win-win” boost after being accepted into one of global aviation ‘big three’ alliances.

The move opens up more of the Pearl River Delta as passengers fly to and from China and beyond.

Following parent company Air China, the southern China-based carrier joins Star Alliance, bringing more than 400 flights and 70 destinations to the network.

As reported by WCARN.com, Star CEO Mark Schwab said:

Shenzhen Airlines is China’s fifth largest carrier and strengthens the Star Alliance presence in China and across Asia. Our customers now benefit from improved access throughout the economically important Pearl River Delta and across southern China. At the same time, Shenzhen Airlines gains access to a global network with enhanced benefits for its passengers; truly a win-win situation.

This is good news for the legions of international travelers based in Shenzhen, as the can earn frequent flier miles more easily and reach more destinations with less hassle.

The move also brings Shenzhen in line with the rest of the PRD airports. China Southern and SkyTeam have an iron grip on Guangzhou Baiyun while Cathay Pacific and the Oneworld alliance dominate Hong Kong.

Beijing to seize control of Cathay?
CAPA has a must-read piece on the future ownership of Cathay Pacific. Could Swire, its largest shareholder, be prepared to sell its holding – at the right price – to Air China, which already owns 29.9% of Hong Kong’s flagship carrier?

Here’s what CAPA has to say:

An Air China takeover would be deeply political, and is seemingly not a question of if but when, how and what the competitive response is. Cathay expects Air China’s stake to increase, but Cathay’s board 
must first approve a takeover, which is not expected in the short term. The mood from Swire, Cathay’s largest shareholder (42%) and source 
of senior management – and almost its entire culture – is a firm commitment to Cathay and aviation in greater China but also seems to be that it will sell, but for a premium. As for accepting a takeover, the time may come when Cathay and Swire know that not cooperating with Beijing will yield unfavourable outcomes, as Hong Kong edges closer to becoming more fully a part of China.

It has to be said any takeover bid would be deeply controversial and stoke growing anti-mainland sentiment in the SAR.

Nevertheless, within the ‘big three’ alliances shaking-up their offerings at the moment, a takeover could lead to wider changes in the Delta.

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Shenzhen Airlines flight ZH 9706 took off from Xiangyang Airport, in Hubei, last night en-route to Shenzhen, but never arrived. In fact, it never left the province and was diverted to Wuhan.

“At 10:29 p.m. on August 30, 2012, flight ZH 9706 received threatening information after takeoff,” the airline said in a statement posted to Weibo. “To ensure safety, this airline diverted the flight immediately and the plane landed safety at Wuhan Tianhe International Airport at 11:22 p.m. Police have been called in to investigate.”

No one is taking any chances.

In a statement released by the Wuhan airport authority, the threat was made through an anonymous call that forced the emergency landing.

Yesterday’s incident isn’t the first of its kind, or even the first this week. On Wednesday it emerged an Air China flight bound for New York returned to Beijing after receiving a similar message, serious enough for the plane to make a u-turn seven hours into its journey after receiving a tip from US authorities.

The industry is on a heightened sense of alert after a hijacking was thwarted in Xinjiang Autonomous Region in which six ethnic Uyghur men tried to seize control, but were overcome by passengers and crew.

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Fang Daguo

The interwebs have lit up once again in the PRD thanks to a young woman in Guangzhou who claims she was beaten by a man on board an Air China flight from Hefei to Guangzhou yesterday (August 29).

The woman was working as a flight attendant on flight CA3874 when she claims a passenger became aggressive.  The man said she provided poor service and he didn’t like the way she spoke to him.  He apparently said, “You are only a flight attendant, I know your boss!” At one point, he apparently beat her with his luggage.  The woman posted photos of her injuries on Weibo around 9:00 last night, which we have posted below.  They have been shared on Weibo more than 10 million times.

Any incident of a person in power appearing to abuse their status seems to strike a chord with people these days, and this case is no different.  After the woman posted her claims, netizens began searching for the identity of the man on board the flight.  China’s famous human flesh search engines uncovered the guy: Fang Daguo, a political commissar in Guangzhou.

People on Weibo are outraged about his behaviour, and we expect this story to develop further.  We’ll keep you posted.

(Thanks again to @MissXQ for the info)

Update (9:18am 31 August):

It appears the flight attendant has either backed down, or possibly received some settlement cash.  On her Weibo last night, she posted:

On flight CZ3874 from Hefei to Guangzhou, Fang Daguo and his wife were in conflict with me over where they placed their luggage. Fang Daguo and his wife have already given me their sincere apology, and it has been settled properly. Thank you for your attention.

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