NICHOLAS IONIDES / SINGAPORE
Scheme would give foreign carriers access to Hainan in bid to boost tourism in region
Chinese civil aviation authorities are working on a ground-breaking open skies policy for the southern island province of Hainan that would see foreign airlines given unlimited operating rights.
Government sources in China say high-level talks have been taking place in the Hainan Special Economic Zone and in Beijing, involving central government and provincial government authorities.
Under discussion is a proposed scheme under which foreign airlines could operate as many services as they wished to the province's Haikou and Sanya airports in a bid to boost tourism to the island, which authorities like to describe as "China's Hawaii". Most flights to Hainan are now operated from mainland China, Hong Kong or Macau.
No changes would be required to existing bilateral air services agreements between the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) and other countries.
Foreign airlines would not be allowed to operate from Hainan province to other points on the Chinese mainland.
"If this sort of open skies policy is implemented, it could allow foreign airlines to fly as many flights as possible," says a Chinese government source in Beijing, who declines to speculate on the potential impact of the scheme on Haikou-based Hainan Airlines and China Southern Airlines, which is a major operator to the province. He adds: "This is an experiment about more flexible traffic rights arrangements."
The fact that China is even considering such a scheme will be viewed by industry observers as a major step forward. China has long maintained a restrictive air services regime to protect its state-owned airlines.
But the CAAC, which negotiates bilateral air services agreements on behalf of the Chinese government, has been opening up in recent years and has been progressively giving foreign carriers more rights to operate to the country's gateway airports at Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai.
While this is a small first step, it is seen as an important one and authorities have hinted that similar rights could be awarded to other carriers in future.
Source: Flight International
