China Southern orders ten more A330-300s

The European Union says it has signed a range of aviation-related protocols with China including a horizontal aviation agreement to strengthen their aviation cooperation.

According to the bloc,the agreements are a follow up on the EU-China Summit of April 9 and will serve to boost the competitiveness of the EU's aviation sector while enhancing overall EU-China aviation relations.

The first agreement will remove unnecessary duplication in the evaluation and certification activities either sides' civil aviation authorities have to carry out with respect to aviation-related products.

The second agreement will allow all EU-flagged airlines to fly to China from any EU Member State that has a bilateral air services agreement with China under which unused traffic rights are available. Until now, only airlines owned and controlled by a given member state or its nationals could fly between that member state and China.

According to the ch-aviation capacity module, China's state-owned airlines Air China, China Eastern Airlines, and China Southern Airlines along with Hainan Airlines account for the lion's share of the 204,000 weekly...

The South Korean Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs (MLTMA) has granted domestic low-cost carriers traffic rights for 30 new routes to China.

Following a mid-March agreement, Seoul and Beijing agreed to increase the number of direct routes between the countries to 66 from the previously allowed 57 and the number of weekly frequencies to 588 from 449. The bulk of the new rights was now granted to LCCs.

"Carriers, which were granted fresh traffic rights, will likely begin flights in three to four months after obtaining necessary licenses and making other preparations," the MLTMA said.

Among the new traffic rights granted to LCCs, Jeju Air (7C, Jeju) and T'way Air (TW, Seoul Gimpo) secured rights to connect Seoul Incheon and Beijing, while Eastar Jet (ZE, Seoul Gimpo) was awarded rights to fly to Shanghai.

In total, LCCs secured rights to operate an additional 118 flights on 30 new routes to China per week. Their full-service rivals were awarded permits for an additional 21 weekly flights on eight...

The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) has allowed China Eastern Airlines (MU, Shanghai Hongqiao) to continue serving Shanghai from the existing capital airport Beijing Capital after the new facility at Beijing Daxing Int'l opens, Air Transport World has reported.

According to an earlier CAAC plan, China Eastern together with its Skyteam partners, China Southern Airlines (CZ, Guangzhou), and their subsidiaries were due to fully relocate from Beijing Capital to Daxing once the latter airport opens at the end of September 2019. Air China (CA, Beijing Capital) and its Star Alliance partners, as well as Hainan Airlines (HU, Haikou), will continue to serve the existing gateway.

According to the ch-aviation capacity module, China Eastern currently operates 761 weekly departures out of Beijing Capital, which gives it a 13.3% market share by frequencies. It operates 131x weekly from Beijing to Shanghai Hongqiao and 28x weekly to Shanghai Pudong, using both narrow- and widebody equipment.

China Eastern has a 45.9% market share by capacity between...