Shanghai Airlines have announced plans to include passenger announcements in Shanghainese, as well as Putonghua and English, on a number of flights. The scheme is set to begin after Chinese New Year, with the local dialect making an appearance on flights arriving from Beijing, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan in order to "give visitors a sense of the city's personality." more ›

Even as China continues to keep the lid on low-cost carriers, foreign budget airlines are prying the door open slowly but surely. Here's some good news for readers living up north in the capital: Beijing has become Qantas offshoot Jetstar's tenth destination in China with the launch of the budget airline's Beijing-Singapore-Melbourne flight, and the carrier plans to add two more Chinese cities this year to reach a total of 12. more ›

Another day, another group of angry Chinese travellers causing a commotion somewhere in the world. This time, a group of tourists from Shanghai, Sichuan and Shenzhen staged a protest at Singapore's Changi Airport after a lengthy delay of their Hong Kong Airlines flight. more ›

Air China, the world's largest carrier by market capitalisation and also the world's most profitable airline, begins inflight wifi trials on a Boeing 737-800 flight departing from the Beijing Capital Airport tomorrow. As soon as it receives approval from regulators, it will begin rolling out the service starting from its domestic flights. And the best part of it all is, they're not looking to charge us a single cent for it! more ›

Well, we sure didn't see this one coming. Budget carrier Spring Airlines has finally been allowed to fly the highly lucrative Shanghai-Beijing route. more ›

Not unexpected: "China Eastern Airlines led share rallies of China's three air giants in the Hong Kong market by gaining 4.76 percent to close at HK$3.96 (51 US cents) yesterday. Air China rose 3.59 percent to HK$8.08 and China Southern Airlines rose 3.4 percent to HK$5.17. The increase bucked the downward trend of the Hang Seng Index, which closed down 0.7 percent at 22,293.3 points." [Shanghai Daily] more ›

If you're still looking for those 400RMB Shanghai-Beijing air tickets and can't find them, look no further. They do not exist anymore. more ›

You definitely will want to think twice before covering up with a blanket the next time you board a plane. more ›

Take that you headline-hogging speedy rail thing! After ticket prices were finally released for the Shanghai-Bejing high speed train, opening this Friday, it looks like multiple Chinese airlines have slashed fares in anticipation of the competition! The screen grab above is from a Ctrip search for one-way tickets from Shanghai to Beijing. All told, the total for the cheapest ticket comes out to 590RMB - a mere 35RMB more than the cheapest ticket for the five-hour train! more ›

We found out the official start date of the train last week, and now after lots of vague talk of making tickets cheaper and more competitive with flights, we finally have an idea of the prices! Basically the spread is from 410RMB to 1,750RMB. Here's how those prices break down: more ›

"CHINA Eastern Airlines will launch the first regular direct services between Shanghai and Hawaii on August 9. The Shanghai-based airline yesterday said it will fly to Hawaii every Tuesday and Friday, using an Airbus A340 aircraft, which can accommodate about 300 passengers." [Shanghai Daily] more ›

Always a defender of the little people, China has now criticized European Union plans to impose a carbon emission cap on airlines flying in and out of Europe beginning on January 1, 2012. more ›

Hong Kong Airlines is now making all of its flight attendants learn a form of kungfu called wing chun which is supposedly easy to use in small, confined spaces. So if you happen to be one of those problematic passengers, you may want to choose another airline next time.
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If there's one homegrown business that we're proud of in Shanghai, it would have to be Spring Airlines. Since it was established in 2005, the airline has defied the odds to grow in a market that has been heavily regulated by the government in favour of the state-owned carriers. Wang Zhenhua, the founder of the airline, has been known to be so cost-conscious he shares hotel rooms and eats instant noodles with his staff while on business trips. And as you will see in this clip, his office looks rather spartan too. CNN's Stan Grant speaks to Wang and finds out his practise of taichi has had a deep impact on the way he runs his business:
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The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) has announced the cancellation of the Wuhan-Nanjing flight route, beginning summer this year. The route is the first casualty of the onslaught by high-speed railway, which is now rapidly developing across China at breakneck speed. more ›

With just about three months left to the launch of the much-anticipated Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway, everybody just wants to know how much those damn tickets will cost. more ›

Remember how we reported that American Airlines was gonna start up a new nonstop Shanghai-Los Angeles route? Well it's finally (almost) here! Starting on April 5th, China Eastern is no longer going to be the only direct flights carrier between the two coastal cities. To sweeten the deal, AA has a special promotional price. Prices for a one-way flight start at 2,617RMB (399USD) from April 5 to May 5 and 2,479RMB (378USD) from May 20 to June 17. You'll also earn double (flying economy) or triple (business and first class) miles if you're part of AA's reward program for travel between April 5 through to June 30. Oh yeah, let's not forget that in mid-May United Airlines will alo begin their direct Shanghai-LA flights. Here's hoping they undercut AA's promotions even further. more ›

Flight attendants with Capital Airlines perform the safety instructions with Lady Gaga's "Just Dance":
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Woohoo. 2011 looks set to be a great year for budget travellers, especially those that are looking to get down to Southeast Asia. Australian budget airline Jetstar has announced a new flight that will connect its Singapore hub to Hangzhou from 22 March. The flight frequency will be increased from thrice- to four-times weekly by 27 March. more ›

The World Expo, which brought some 70 million visitors to Shanghai, coupled with solid growth in the Chinese aviation sector, have made 2010 a bumper year for the two passenger airlines that call Shanghai home. Boosted in part by its acquisition of Shanghai Airlines, China Eastern expects its 2010 to exceed its previous year's by almost ten times. Meanwhile, China's largest budget airline, Spring Airlines, also didn't do too shabbily, nearly tripling its 2009 net income. And here's some good news: In 2011, the carrier expects to open new routes to Japan, Taiwan, Macau and Southeast Asia. Yay for more cheap airfares! more ›

Four new stations opened yesterday on Line 10 and all of them have something to do with Hongqiao Airport. So if you're flying out of there and want to transfer between the two terminals, take the subway. Well, except if your flight falls anywhere out of the 6am to 10pm window, that is. Before, after that, you'll have to taxi it. more ›

Oh joy of joys! Anyone who's traveled in China enough knows that flight delays seem to happen more often than not. The waiting period has gotten so bad sometimes that passengers have come to fisticuffs with airline employees. But now you actually get something (besides high blood pressure) from the hours of pre-boarding: cold hard cash. more ›

Good news for anyone who lives in Puxi and wants to visit our economic rival/friendly sister city to the South: China Eastern Airlines and its newish subsidiary, Shanghai Airlines, will now be launching direct flights to Hong Kong from Hongqiao International Airport. They'll start up on Sept. 10 and increase the weekly flights between the two destinations to over 200. Yay for at least a 50% reduction in last minute taxi fares to the airport! more ›

Shanghai-based carrier China Eastern Airlines has officially joined SkyTeam ahead of the Shanghai Expo, ending months of speculation over which global alliance it would join. The move leaves OneWorld the only major airline network without a mainland Chinese partner as Beijing-based Air China is a part of the Star Alliance, and Guangzhou-based China Southern is also a member of SkyTeam. Shanghai Airlines, before its anti-competitive takeover by merger with China Eastern, was also a member of the Star Alliance, but it may have to withdraw membership now that China Eastern has joined SkyTeam. more ›

Wow, what is it with China Eastern Airlines? First their passengers staged a sit-in at the LAX in Los Angeles and now they actually started throwing fists at Beijing International Airport... all gloriously documented by security cams. more ›

A volcano located in Russia is currently wreaking havoc on all trans-Pacific flights to and from East Asia. According to The Canadian Press, the Sarychev Peak first started shooting ash and smoke on June 12 and now airlines are trying to avoid flying through the 50-km diameter residue. Anyone planning to fly to the western coast of North America should double-check their flight status before leaving to the airport. Shanghaiist especially feels for anyone who has just been released from a week in quarantine, just to have their flight delayed and be placed right back in a hotel. more ›

A lot of us over here have friends that we miss terribly over in the U.S., but our repeated pleas to have them come and visit are usually met with a sad shrug and something along the lines of, “We're in the middle of an economic crisis over here. I ain't got funds, man.” more ›

Cathay Pacific has given an apology and an upgrade to “Airport Auntie,” the hysterical older Chinese woman who had a complete breakdown in the Hong Kong International Airport after she missed her flight. more ›

China Eastern's chairman Li Fenghua (李丰华) has been replaced by Liu Shaoyong (刘绍勇), chairman of rival China Southern Airlines in what's been described as a "government-orchestrated industry shake-up". There is no news on where Li Fenghua is off to next but we're curious because this was the guy that had earlier bitterly vowed that China Eastern would "never consider Air China as a strategic investor" after Air China blocked Singapore Airline's proposed HK$7 billion bid for a 24% stake in China Eastern. The management shakeup has piqued the interest of the Chinese business press. Some have speculated that Li is moving on to some new position in the State Council but this remains quite unlikely. As an anonymous insider revealed to the Securities Daily 《证券日报》, Li presided over China Eastern's worst performance ever, and bears some responsibility for losses of up to RMB5 billion in fuel-hedging. For that, Li may be sent off to "idle" at some work unit for some time before being "audited and reviewed" for his performance. more ›

Shanghai-based China Eastern airlines has announced that it will increase its flights to Taipie from 3 times weekly to daily beginning next Monday. Also, whereas previously all flights had to bypass Hong Kong airspace, now flights are all going direct, ie., you can now get to Taipei in a little over an hour and for less than what you used to pay for! This is truly historic. A quick check with Elong.com indicate roundtrip flights to cost approximately RMB2100 plus tax of about RMB658. more ›