With more European countries becoming tourist destinations of Chinese citizens, competition in the nation's civil aviation market has heated up as domestic and foreign airlines endeavor to profit from Sino-European air routes.  

From June 28, China Southern Airlines one of the country's main airlines, headquartered in Guangzhou, will start flights from Shanghai to Amsterdam via Beijing.

"We are opening the new European air route aiming to strive for a big share of the increasingly competitive Sino-European air transport market," said Li Kun, vice president of the airline.

Meanwhile, China Southern will kick off its virgin flight to Paris from Guangzhou on the same day with four flights to and from the two cities each week.

These flights will facilitate travelers and travel agencies arranging tours in China or Europe, Li said.

To strengthen its air fleet, China Southern has bought six ERJ145 regional jet aircraft -- a Sino-Brazilian product -- from the Harbin Aviation Industry Group in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.

"The first two aircraft will be delivered on June 28 and are expected to be put into service as of July 1 while the other four will be delivered in January next year," Li said.

As a code-sharing partner of China Southern, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines announced in Beijing last week that it will conduct double daily services from both Beijing and Shanghai to Amsterdam. The positive economic climate in China will further stimulate business travel as well as leisure travel to and from Beijing and Shanghai, said Boet Kreiken, senior vice president of KLM.

He said that as a result of the expansion of aero-rights, KLM will operate twice as many flights from Shanghai and Beijing to Amsterdam as it did in the summer of 2003.

Furthermore, the introduction of the new Boeing 777-200ER will make it possible to deploy larger aircraft and will improve in-flight services on designated flights to and from Beijing and Shanghai, Kreiken said.

By increasing flights from three to seven each week, KLM becomes one of the top three European airlines in China. Chinese passengers can transfer to more than 100 other European cities via Amsterdam.

China's rapid economic growth and hosting of the 2008 Olympics must increase its demand for air transportation, Kreiken says.

"KLM now carries hundreds of thousands of Dutch tourists to China every year, and hopefully more and more Chinese tourists will be seen on board in the near future," he said.

KLM also plans to open flights to Xiamen and Chengdu.

KLM will further gain momentum from its merger with Air France last month and consolidate its profit through optimized networks. Customers would be able to benefit from coordinated schedules through their entire short, medium and long-haul networks, Kreiken says.

To promote the tourist boom between the two countries, the embassy has simplified visa application procedures, said Karel van Oosterom, minister plenipotentiary of the Royal Netherlands Embassy in China.

Beijing-based Air China, the nation's leading carrier, will introduce 19 passenger planes this year to expand its fleet to 150, in an effort to enhance its competitiveness in international air markets, sources from Air China said.

(China Daily June 17, 2004)