Results tagged “civilaviation”

Photo from Ken Yip.

Shanghaiist is somewhat of a frequent flyer to Beijing, and because he isn't employed by some big multinational but rather runs his own little business, he can only afford to put himself on cattle class and often has to scour the internet for the cheapest available deals. We especially love this nifty little function on eLong.com which shows you the cheapest available flight within a week of your selected departure date. That has worked to our advantage in the past because we have relatively flexible schedules, and we have flown to Beijing for as low as RMB530 (that's RMB400 for the ticket and RMB130 for miscellaneous taxes) on Hainan Airlines.

OK, we've never heard of East Star Airlines before, but it has just become the first private airline in China to be authorized to operate international flights. A Xinhua report tells us that under Civil Aviation Administration of China regulations, new airlines may apply to operate international flights only after three years of operations. East Star has been in business less than two years, but it beat rivals Okair, Ueair, Juneyao Airlines and Spring Airlines to be the first. Hmm... we wonder what made them bend those rules!

China's transportation and tourism sectors hit a new record last week as 150 million people travelled within China during the seven day period. 44 million travelled by train, up 6 percent from last year, and preliminary statistics from the Civil Aviation Administration of China show that 3.62 million passengers few on 30882 domestic flights, up 19% and 12% respectively. And beat this, total retail sales in consumer goods totalled 3.2 trillion yuan. *Ka-Ching*!

Tickets for domestic Chinese flights may be cheap, but really, is it worth it? Last week, we told you about the China Eastern plane that blew out its tires while landing. And over the weekend, reports emerged of a China Southern plane that had its tail cone (the rear of the airplane's fuselage) fall to the ground "just before the plane was to taxi to the runway":

We think we've finally figured out why so many people here carry umbrellas. They're not for sudden thunder showers. They're not for keeping skin fair and white. They're for keeping crap from falling on your head. From the Shanghai Daily:

Budget travelers rejoice! Starting today, Civil Aviation Administration of China has partially lifted a four year ban on all domestic red eye flights, says a Tom.com story (in Chinese). The rule was put in place four years ago due to public safety concerns. Since then, thanks to a booming economy, domestic air travel volume has soared and supply hasn’t kept pace. (Even though China seems to be buying 20 planes from either Boeing or Airbus every other day.) Major airport hubs have reported record numbers of travelers every quarter and are now at a saturation point. During holiday seasons, air tickets to popular travel destinations are hard to come by and are often extremely expensive. Reinstating red eye flights would ameliorate the congestion and provide customers with even cheaper tickets, a further 20 percent discount off the listed price. With May Day holiday just around the corner, this is welcoming news indeed to all would-be travelers.