Growth within China's civil aviation sector has soared since
September 11, while the rest of the global industry has not yet
recovered from the impact of the year-old terror strikes.
The country's air industry generated profits of 480 million yuan
(US$57.8 million) in the first eight months of the year, with
passenger traffic rising by 11 percent year-on-year, the civil
aviation regulator revealed yesterday.
This is in sharp contrast with Europe and North America, where air
traffic nose-dived by almost 12 percent and 9 percent respectively
between January and July, according to the International Air Traffic
Association (IATA).
US-based Northwest Airlines, which flies the US-China air route,
experienced a decline in demand in virtually all of its markets in
the past 12 months, its China General Manager Laurie Lofgren told
China Daily.
China's robust air traffic growth shows its aviation industry has
flown out of chronic financial trouble and people's confidence in
air travel has not been dampened by the terror strikes, a senior
official from the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China
(CAAC) said.
The official attributed the achievements in part to the steady
national economic growth and enhanced security measures.
After September 11, China exerted unprecedented efforts to fight
terrorism and acts of unlawful interference in air travel, the
official said.
The first eight months of the year alone saw the government invest
1 billion yuan (US$120 million) to aid the airlines in updating
aviation security systems -- including reinforcing cockpit doors --
and in improving safety examination equipment at airports.
In
the first half of the year, civil aviation security authorities
arrested more than 380 suspected criminals and detected more than
45,000 dangerous articles.
IATA Director-General Giovanni Bisignani endorsed the development
of the Chinese market.
"China has shown strong growth and some Asian markets have
benefited from increased tourist traffic as a result of perceptions
of security," he said in his assessment of air travel a year after
September 11.
Despite losses this year on international scheduled operations
being forecast at US$4 billion-6 billion, Bisignani said the
aviation industry is resilient.
"By the end of 2003, we expect to recover most of our lost ground
and to be back at pre-September 11 volumes," he said.
Lofgren said Northwest Airlines has taken steps to strengthen its
share of the Chinese market by opening up daily single-connection
services from Beijing and Shanghai, through its Tokyo hub, to more
of the United States.
(China
Daily September 12, 2002)