Beijing, Oct. 10, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- On October 9, Beijing Capital Airlines Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Capital Airlines") signed a cooperation agreement with the Portuguese National Tourism Board. Capital Airlines will launch the Hangzhou=Beijing=Lisbon route next June as the first direct flight between China and Portugal, which will play an important role in accelerating economic and cultural exchanges between the two countries.
Capital Airlines aircraft
Capital Airlines A330 aircraft
On October 9, Beijing Capital Airlines Co., Ltd. signed a cooperation agreement with the Portuguese National Tourism Board. Capital Airlines will launch the Hangzhou=Beijing=Lisbon route next June, which will be the first direct flight between China and Portugal and will play an important role in accelerating economic and cultural exchanges between the two countries.
This route is also another non-stop capital-to-capital route that Capital Airlines will open as it expands internationally, aiming to meet the growing bilateral trade and business needs between China and countries along the "Belt and Road" initiative.
First direct China-Portugal flight route
On the afternoon of October 9, Xin Di, Non-Executive Director of HNA Group’s Board of Directors and CEO of HNA Tourism, and Luis Araujo, Director General of the Portuguese National Tourism Board, signed the "Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation for the Launch of Direct Flights Between China and Portugal."
According to the agreement, Capital Airlines will launch the Hangzhou=Beijing=Lisbon route in June 2017, establishing a direct air link between China and Portugal, with four flights per week operated by the Airbus A330-200 aircraft.
In 2015, the number of foreign tourists visiting Portugal hit a record high of 17 million, an increase of 13.9% compared to 2014, including 155,000 Chinese tourists, up 36% year-on-year. The number of Portuguese tourists visiting China in 2015 was 53,400, up 2.1% year-on-year. Previously, Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa stated in an exclusive interview with Chinese media that he looked forward to seeing further growth in the number of Chinese tourists visiting Portugal, but the lack of a direct flight route between China and Portugal has greatly hindered travel and economic and trade exchanges between the two countries.
To vigorously promote the development of tourism between China and Portugal and achieve direct flights as soon as possible, Jorge Torres Pereira, Ambassador of Portugal to China, and Luis Araujo, Director General of the Portuguese National Tourism Board, met with Xu Xin, Chairman of Capital Airlines, in March this year. Both sides agreed on opening direct China-Portugal flight routes and jointly promoting tourism resources between the two countries. At the same time, the Portuguese Tourism Board and the Portuguese Airports Authority expressed their maximum policy support for Capital Airlines' launch of the China-Portugal direct flight route. In June this year, Capital Airlines obtained approval from the Civil Aviation Administration of China as the designated carrier for the China-Portugal route.
As a base airline headquartered in Beijing, Capital Airlines has consistently responded to national calls and actively implemented the "Belt and Road" strategic initiatives. For example, the planned Lisbon route is aimed at establishing a direct air corridor between China and Portugal. The company also plans to collaborate with Brazil’s Azul Airlines, controlled by HNA Group, to integrate the network from Lisbon to South America, creating an air bridge from China via Lisbon to South America to meet the growing bilateral trade and business needs between China and countries along the "Belt and Road."
Rooted in Beijing, flying globally to spread culture
Established on May 2, 2010, Capital Airlines is jointly funded by HNA Group and Beijing Tourism Group. Xu Xin, Chairman of Capital Airlines, pointed out that Beijing, as the capital, is the foundation of Capital Airlines. As an airline based in the capital, it always insists on integrating with and serving Beijing.
After six years of development, Capital Airlines has maintained a safe flight operation record of approximately 840,000 hours, owns the youngest and largest Airbus fleet in China’s civil aviation industry, and has opened more than 200 routes, reaching 207 cities both domestically and internationally. In 2015, Capital Airlines transported a total of 10.73 million passengers. This year, Capital Airlines was listed in the China Top 500 Brands released by World Brand Lab, becoming the youngest airline with a brand value exceeding 10 billion yuan.
Starting in 2015, to meet the growing outbound demand for business and tourism in major cities such as Beijing, Capital Airlines shifted its strategic focus from domestic to international. Since launching its first international route in the second half of 2014, with Beijing, Xi’an, and Hangzhou as core cities, Capital Airlines has cumulatively opened over 40 international routes involving Southeast Asia and Europe, including Beijing to Cheongju, Maldives, Copenhagen; Xi’an to Bangkok, Phuket, Okinawa; and Hangzhou to Osaka, Jeju, Okinawa, Shizuoka, Nha Trang, Madrid. Its expansion speed and volume are relatively fast among China’s medium to large airlines.
The launch of each international route reflects the strategic layout planning of Capital Airlines’ international expansion. In addition to strategic routes such as Beijing=Lisbon between capitals, it also follows national strategic deployment to open routes along the “Belt and Road,” such as the recently launched Shenyang=Qingdao=Melbourne route, where Qingdao is a gateway city for two-way opening under the “Belt and Road” initiative, and Melbourne is an extension city of the southern route of the Maritime Silk Road.
In addition, Capital Airlines is also stepping up the layout of an “aviation+tourism” route network. Next year, it will launch pure tourism routes such as Wuhan=St. Petersburg and Hangzhou=Saipan, and will also pay attention to tourism market opportunities in Central Asia, the Russian Far East, and South Asia and the South Pacific regions.
As an airline based in Beijing, in addition to opening more and more domestic and international routes departing from Beijing, Capital Airlines also bears the responsibility of spreading Beijing culture. In its daily promotions, it incorporates many elements of Peking Opera. On the newly launched Melbourne route, the airline not only offers Western and Chinese meal options but also prepares special Chinese soups and other strongly-flavored Chinese foods, allowing passengers to enjoy an authentic taste of China even at 10,000 meters above ground.
Advancing into Beijing’s new airport, strengthening capital-to-capital routes
Although headquartered in Beijing, Capital Airlines has not had an advantageous position in route layout due to slot resource limitations at Beijing Capital Airport. However, with the National Development and Reform Commission’s July announcement this year clearly listing Capital Airlines as one of the airlines to be stationed at Beijing’s new airport in the future, it provides greater room for expansion to improve the airline’s route network originating from Beijing and covering major capital cities around the world.
According to Beijing’s "13th Five-Year Plan," during the 13th Five-Year period, Beijing will thoroughly implement the strategic positioning of the capital city as the national political center, cultural center, international communication center, and center for scientific and technological innovation, and fully advance the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. The establishment of an international communication center and the further advancement of the national "Belt and Road" strategy objectively require connecting more national capitals through air corridors.
In the three years before the new airport becomes operational, Capital Airlines has planned to increase its presence in Beijing, especially the opening of international capital-to-capital routes. The upcoming Hangzhou=Beijing=Lisbon route next year is also a warm-up for the company’s move into the new airport and contributes to accelerating economic and cultural exchanges between China and Portugal.
In addition to promoting international routes, Capital Airlines currently has obvious tourism characteristics in its route offerings. The company has confirmed its strategic transformation towards an international tourism airline and the positioning of a "tourism-oriented airline." It is no longer just a company providing transportation services, but aims to become a travel concierge offering passengers a more comprehensive and cost-effective one-stop service including food, accommodation, transportation, shopping, tours, and entertainment.
Currently, Capital Airlines is integrating internal and external resources, hoping to seize the historic opportunity of rapid development in outbound tourism from China. It is optimizing the allocation of tourism and aviation resources, developing extended aviation services such as hotels, scenic spots, and ground transportation, integrating the tourism industry chain of food, accommodation, transportation, tours, shopping, and entertainment with aviation travel products, and providing passengers with high-quality, comprehensive, one-stop Capital Airlines characteristic services. The goal is to establish Capital Airlines as the top domestic and international tourism airline brand.
About Beijing Capital Airlines Co., Ltd.
Established in 2010 with joint funding from HNA Group and Beijing Tourism Group, Capital Airlines leverages the tourism resource advantages of HNA Group, HNA Tourism, and Beijing Tourism Group to deeply cultivate the domestic and international aviation tourism market. Based on its strategic positioning as an "international tourism airline," Capital Airlines actively connects global tourism cities. It has so far opened more than 200 domestic routes covering major Chinese tourism regions and over 40 international routes since 2014. Capital Airlines owns a fleet of more than 60 all-Airbus aircraft, with the fleet size expected to exceed 100 by the end of the 13th Five-Year Plan. It will also be stationed at Beijing’s new airport, implementing the "capital-to-capital" strategy, using the "wings of Capital Airlines" to connect Beijing with the world, and accompanying passengers with heartfelt service from beautiful cities to wonderful worlds.