Originally Posted by
mosburger
Well, for me and most others residing and/or working in Asia, the ICN - PVG/PEK routes are about a hundred times more important than any US domestic connection. And a lot more lucrative for the airlines as well.
So let's strenghten the alliance by cutting non-profitable US domestic flights and replacing AA with a major Chinese carrier if it has to be.
Joking of course, but just wanted to remind where airlines actually still make money.
OW tends to be a Euro-centric alliance. 4 carriers in Europe, but only 2 to cover the whole East Asia region.
OW's presence in Asia is severely outshadowed by *A and ST from the lack of direct flights that links the three capitals of E. Asia + Shanghai:
O Tokyo to/from Seoul covered by NRT-ICN and HND-GMP (JL)
O Tokyo to/from Beijing covered by NRT-PEK (JL)
O Tokyo to/from Shanghai covered by NRT-PVG and HND-SHA (JL)
X Beijing to/from Shanghai - N/A no domestic intra-Chinese OW carrier
X Beijing to/from Seoul - N/A no Chinese OW carrier and the 2 Korean carriers already taken by *A and ST
X Seoul to/from Shanghai - N/A no Chinese OW carrier and the 2 Korean carriers already taken by *A and ST
They key market that OW is lacking is:
1. The strong growth of SHA which will eventually replace HKG as the East Asian financial center
2. The ambitions plans of ICN whose goals are to overtake NRT as the main hub of East Asia (lower landing costs, more runways, and less stringent curfews).
3. S. Korean conglomerate business travelers using mainly *A and ST flights to visit their company factories in mainland China.
And, I would definitely use OW more if AA starts flying to ICN direct from the mainland US instead of changing planes at NRT. With the US military presence in S. Korea and potential to grab government fares, a huge Korean-American population living in various cities across the states, I can't imagine why AA hasn't looked much to fly there.