Society

Japan's largest airline to open scheduled flights to Chengdu

(chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2011-05-31 16:09

Japan's largest airline company will put into operation a flight course from Tokyo to Chengdu, the first Chinese inland destination city, demonstrating its belief in Chinese-Japanese tourism and in Chengdu's potential as an aviation hub. The remark was made by Shinichiro Ito, President and CEO of All Nippon Airways Co., Ltd, (ANA), one of the largest in Asia, at Chengdu Shuangliu Airport lounge on May 24.

"This is the second time I have visited Chengdu. I was here when the May 12 Wenchuan earthquake took place in 2008," said Mr. Ito. He said Chengdu had made great progress over the past three years, particularly in the aviation industry. "I have seen substantial progress and I see enormous potential in Shuangliu Airport through the second runway recently going into normalized operation and the second Terminal to be completed soon."

"I have also seen rich tourism resources," Mr. Ito added, "and all sorts of gourmet foods this time in Chengdu. The city is so fascinating. Naturally, this was an important factor in our decision to choose Chengdu as the first destination among Chinese inland cities for our new scheduled flights."

"We conducted market surveys to select Chinese inland cities for the new scheduled flights. In the end, we chose Chengdu from a list of candidate cities, such as Wuhan and Xi'an," said Mr. Ito. "The decision was made for three reasons. The first factor was the economic growth rate, in which the market surveys showed Chengdu surpassed all other candidates. The second factor was tourism resources. No doubt, Chengdu boasts obvious competitiveness. The third factor was trade and economic ties with Japan, as showed Chengdu was worth high attention," Mr. Ito said.

Resume Tourism to Japan

Mr. Ito said the opening of the Chengdu-Tokyo direct flight sent a signal to Chinese tourists that tourism has become normal in Japan. He believed that Japan's tourism market for overseas travelers would recover soon.

He said ANA had decided to open up the Chengdu-Tokyo scheduled flights three years ago, before the Wenchuan earthquake. Now, in the wake of Japan's own devastating earthquake, ANA remained resolved to implement the original plan, because it had confidence in growing exchanges between the two countries.

Cargo Flights in Chengdu under Consideration

When the Chengdu-Tokyo direct flight is opened, Chengdu, the first western Chinese city with direct flights to Tokyo, will assume a more important role as an aviation hub. By that time, Shuangliu International Airport will have 16 scheduled direct flights to overseas destinations, including Amsterdam, Bangalore, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Seoul, and cargo flights to Dubai and Vienna. It has 12 code-sharing international flight destination cities and 6 international direct tourist charter flights destination cities.

Mr. Ito said that by 2015 Chengdu will develop into China's fourth largest international airfreight hub. He is confident in the future of the Chengdu aviation industry, with a view to the recently opened second runway and second terminal to be completed soon. ANA is considering initiating cargo flights to Chengdu.