Cathay Pacific Asia Miles - CX gets the license to fly to China...

(sorry, to be more politically correct, the subject of the thread should say "mainland China" http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif )

CX gets the license to fly to PEK, PVG and XMN...max 3 roundtrips per day for PEK and PVG, and 3 roundtrips per week for XMN.

press release from the government at:
http://www.edlb.gov.hk/edb/eng/papers/press/17042003a.doc

complete decision at:
http://www.edlb.gov.hk/edb/eng/related/decision.doc

[This message has been edited by tedhl (edited 04-17-2003).]

this is certainly great news.

SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET!!!!!!!!!

Finally, some good news. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

Perhaps this was a decision made to offset the bad news.

All in all, I'm happy since now I won't have to fly to PVG or PEK on MU/CZ/KA anymore.

I wonder when will CX be selling the tickets? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

[This message has been edited by jkc22 (edited 04-17-2003).]

Put the cork back on the champagne! The other side (PRC) also has to approve. May take some time yet.

I wonder what is Dragonair thinking....

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by bp888:
...The other side (PRC) also has to approve...</font>

I think the PRC will have little reason to not approve this decision as a majority CX shareholder is China's CITIC.

Reasons why this is a big deal --

* Lounge access before the connections on to China

* Trips to China on OWEs and (edited to add) Circle Pacific fares

* Visit Asia fares

* All-Asia Pass fares

* ... more?

[This message has been edited by bedelman (edited 04-17-2003).]

AWESOME!!!!!!!!!

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by jiml1126:
I wonder what is Dragonair thinking....</font>

"pass the 'Depends'" http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

------------------
Faire du ciel le plus bel endroit de la terre c'est impossible sans Concorde!
~ConcordeBoy

Try the Unofficial Continental Airlines Dictionary (http://www.nonepass.com)

Let's have a moment of silence of Dragonair.

...
...
...
...
...
...

Alrite.....this rocks!!!

Cathay Pacific Airways still faces months of hard work before its dream of resuming services to the mainland after a 13-year absence becomes a reality, says the airline's chief government negotiator.
The airline was awarded a licence to operate services to Beijing, Shanghai and Xiamen on Thursday by the Air Transport Licensing Authority (Atla), after it ruled that Dragonair had failed to prove its case that Cathay's entry to the routes would cause it financial devastation amounting to as much as $1 billion per year.


According to Cathay general manager of international affairs Andrew Pyne, the Atla licence represented only the first hurdle in its ambition to operate services to those mainland cities.

Mr Pyne said the airline would now approach the Hong Kong government as soon as possible to negotiate route rights and airport landing slots from the mainland.

"Obviously we are very happy with the [Atla] result," said Mr Pyne, since it meant that the "process of consultation between the [Economic Development and Labour Bureau] and Beijing can begin".

"It's very difficult, though, to give a definitive answer" as to when negotiations with Beijing could begin and services be launched, Mr Pyne said. "We're looking at a few months at the earliest."

Air services between Hong Kong and the mainland are governed by an arrangement inked in early 2000 which presents a regulatory barrier to Cathay's desire to immediately launch services. This document will need to be amended since it provides for only one local carrier, presently Dragonair, to be Hong Kong's designated operator on virtually every route to mainland cities.

Only the Hong Kong-Beijing route provides for multiple local airlines, making it possible for Cathay to begin flying to the capital before it is allowed to service Shanghai and Xiamen.

For the General Administration for Civil Aviation of China (CAAC), the mainland regulator, to agree to the changes, it will doubtless demand more access to Chek Lap Kok as a hub for mainland airlines.

It is not known what degree of support the labour bureau will give to Cathay's demands in negotiations, given that Dragonair is likely to continue its opposition.

Mr Pyne said Cathay's argument that its participation on the routes would enlarge international tourism to the mainland should help win its case with the CAAC.

"We will approach the [EDLB] quite soon about the next step," he said.

Mr Pyne acknowledged that a "breakthrough in the near future was unlikely" given that a round of consultations with the mainland had just concluded last month and it was unlikely the two sides would meet again soon.

Mr Pyne also said the present drop-off in demand for air travel, especially to the mainland, given fears over the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) should not be an issue as he expected the crisis to blow over in a few months.

"We won't be flying [to the mainland] tomorrow. [Sars] should not really deflect us from our aim of returning to the mainland in the medium-term," he said.

Meanwhile, travel from Hong Kong remained muted as Sars fears continued, even with the onset of the Easter long weekend yesterday.

Only 81,425 local residents crossed into the mainland through the Lowu border checkpoint as of 6.30pm yesterday, compared with more than 200,000 departures on Good Friday last year. Just 12,463 people left Chek Lap Kok as of 5pm, down from more than 60,000 a year earlier.