VIETNAM BECOMES CHINA'S FASTEST GROWING MARKET, SAYS OAG REPORT

Singapore, 27 November 2015: A new report released today by air travel intelligence company OAG, reveals Vietnam has become the fastest growing air market from China in the past 12 months, followed by Thailand and Japan.

OAG’s ‘China to the World’ report states that whilst Vietnam’s capacity is much smaller than other destinations, at just over 200,000 seats in November 2015, the market has grown by 75% compared to November last year. Vietnam Airlines and China Southern Airlines dominate, with the Skyteam partners operating 79% of the seats, down from 90% a year ago. Both carriers have added capacity but have seen market share fall with the arrival of Sichuan Airlines and Kenya Airways (which operates to Guangzhou via Hanoi three times per week), and with the growth of Air China and China Eastern Airlines’ frequency additions.

OAG also reports that Thailand is the second fastest growing market from China, with 57% more available seats in November 2015 than a year earlier – that is more than half a million more seats and nearly 1,400 new airline frequencies. Since November 2014, 22 new routes have been launched bringing the total number of routes to 85. According to OAG Schedules Analyser, of the new frequencies, 452 have been added from the three main Chinese airports in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. The remaining 932 (67%) have been added from smaller and secondary Chinese airports (so not from Beijing, Shanghai or Guangzhou).

Orient Thai Airlines has made the largest contribution to new frequencies with 274 although some of the new operations may represent a switch from chartered to scheduled flights. The next largest contributor is Spring Airlines, the Chinese Low Cost Carrier. Over the year the airline has added 107 frequencies from Shanghai (PVG) to Thailand and 143 frequencies from smaller and secondary airports in China such as Chengdu (CTU) and Hangzhou (HGH).

Japan is the third fastest growing market from China, according to OAG. The report shows that capacity for Japan to China has grown by a remarkable 48% and over half of all the new frequencies are to and from secondary airports in China. Airlines have added 1,516 new frequencies from China to Japan over the past year and 264,116 seats; of these new frequencies 60% are on newly operated routes.

While these markets account for a large proportion of China’s international aviation capacity, strong growth is also taking place in smaller markets. OAG’s report highlights further growth within the Chinese market from Europe and Central Asia. For instance, there are six countries that have had scheduled air services to and from China in 2015 where none existed in 2014: Afghanistan, Belarus, Czech Republic, Fiji, French Polynesia and Ukraine.

Mark Clarkson, Business Development Director ASPAC, OAG, says: “International trade is a high priority for the current Chinese leaders and there is no sign of weakness in the Chinese aviation market. While Vietnam, Thailand and Japan are the fastest growing markets, Western and Central Asia is going to be key for China, particularly those countries on the ‘New Silk Road’ – a plan being driven by President Xi Jinping in order to improve China’s position and influence westwards.”

Download the ‘China to the World - a look at the Top 6 international markets driving growth’ report

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For further press information:                               

Trudi Beggs / Sam Murray

80:20 Communications

T: +44 (0)20 7664 6310

E: tbeggs@8020comms.com / smurray@8020comms.com       

Notes to editors:

About OAG

OAG is an air travel intelligence company that provides accurate, timely and actionable information and applications to the world’s airlines, airports, government agencies and travel-related service operators. OAG has the world’s largest network of air travel data including its definitive schedules database of more than 900 airlines and over 4,000 airports. OAG’s FlightView brand has the most extensive flight status database in the market which delivers 25 million flight status updates delivered daily and processes 1.4m requests. For more information, visit: www.oag.com and follow us on Twitter @OAG Aviation.