Access to unlimited beyond rights is one of the main goals for the US in its global drive for open skies and now Asian carriers are discovering there may yet be benefits in return, in the booming Latin American cargo market at least.
China Airlines will become the first, but probably not the last, Asian carrier to fly freighters into Miami, having launched weekly freighter service within two weeks of the the US-Taiwan open skies accord. If demand is as high as some analysts suggest, it could soon boost frequencies.
Other Asian airlines already serve Latin America through Canada or California, but access under open skies to such a major Latin American gateway as Miami, and the prospect of unlimited fifth freedoms, offer new possibilities.
Asia-Latin America is 'a growing market with potential,' says Lee Hibbitts, research director for the Seattle-based Air Cargo Management Group. Latin America's GNP grew 3.5 per cent last year to cap a dramatic turnaround after the 1994 crash in Mexico sent shock waves through the region. Analysts now project Latin American air cargo will grow 10-15 per cent a year, against 9 per cent in Asia.
China Airlines has no plans to fly beyond Miami into Latin America but will interline with local carriers instead. But Singapore Airlines is looking at Miami as a hub, operating its own flights into South America. That worries all-freight operators such as Miami-based Arrow Air. 'We supported China Airlines' application and think it's positive as our first link with Asia,' explains John Batchelor, Arrow's senior vice president, international sales and marketing. 'We'll have to see how aggressive some of these carriers become.'
Source: Airline Business
