TravelSky sells a stake in its app subsidiary to China Southern
>> China's dominant airline IT provider TravelSky Technology said it will sell a majority stake in its "insignificant" subsidiary TravelSky Mobile Tech to investors including China Southern Airlines. TravelSky Mobile Tech is the operator of Umetrip, a consumer-facing mobile app for flight management, check-in, flight information and other functions.
The transaction is understood as a step for the state-controlled giant to reform and better adjust to the market-based economy. TravelSky also wants to accelerate the monetization of the Umetrip platform.
China to allow charter flights from 8 countries
>> China plans to allow chartered passenger flights from eight countries as it loosens restrictions on inbound travel put in place because of the coronavirus pandemic, though the US won’t be included amid growing tensions between the two nations. Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Germany, the UK, Italy, France and Switzerland will be allowed to schedule charter flights into China. For the past two months, China has allowed international airlines to fly only once a week to the country under the “Five-One” policy.
China mulls tripling international flights
>> China’s aviation authority will consider increasing international flights as long as imported coronavirus risks are under control, state media China News reported on Wednesday, citing the agency’s deputy director, Li Jian. The maximum number of international flights now allowed is 134 a week under restrictions imposed on March 29, but the number would be increased to 407 a week from June 1, said Li of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).
Why Delta’s return to China may include a stop in Seoul
>> Delta Air Lines hopes to resume flights to China next month with plans to return to Shanghai. But the airline is covering its bases and does not plan to offer a nonstop flight from the US, at least not initially. In the face of quarantines for passengers arriving in China, all of Delta’s flights to Shanghai Pudong will stop at Seoul Incheon, according to Cirium schedules. That stop, despite appearances, is not to improve connectivity for travelers, but instead to ensure that none of the carrier’s crews have to disembark in China.
Changing face of Chinese travelers
>> Tourist movements in China now not only serve as the first indication of recuperated demand but also as a trajectory for how domestic and outbound travel may eventually recover. In a survey of Chinese travelers, China Outbound Tourism Research Institute found that the majority of travelers aged 34 or younger had voted for “a different form of tourism, more respectful of the visited communities and of nature”, as well as “avoiding mass tourism destinations and large cities” and “not wishing to visit certain countries and regions that are at risk from a health point of view”.
