The Hindu Business Line : Freighter service from Shanghai to Mumbai, Chennai planned

Great Wall Airlines, a Sino-Singaporean joint venture that officially started operation in end June this year, proposes to shortly launch a freighter service connecting Shanghai with Mumbai and Chennai, according to airlines industry sources. The services will be the first and only direct scheduled freighter services between the two countries , the sources add.

Initially, it will be a twice-weekly service, departing Shanghai every Wednesday and Saturday; the route being Shanghai-Mumbai-Chennai-Shanghai. From September a third weekly freighter, operating on Sundays might be added. Based at Shanghai's Pudong International Airport, Great Wall Airlines has a fleet of two Boeing 747-400 freighters.

Structural changes

Meanwhile, China's air cargo sector is undergoing some structural changes. Air China Cargo, the freight-carrying arm of China's largest airline by revenue, Air China, has become an independent carrier.

With this, the number of independent freight carriers in China rises to four, two of which Air China Cargo and Great Wall Airlines are already in operation, while the two others, namely, Jade Cargo International and Shanghai International Cargo Airlines, are both scheduled to go into operation in coming months, it is learnt.

Air cargo market

Air China Cargo and China Cargo Airlines, which is a subsidiary of China Eastern Airlines, together accounting for a third of the domestic air cargo market, are believed to be exploring opportunities for mutual cooperation. The move is seen by observers as an attempt to ensure domestic carriers a larger share of the domestic air freight market, half of which is currently controlled by foreign carriers such as Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines and Korean Airlines.

New entity

If the two airlines join hands, the new entity will be the largest cargo carrier in China and the fifth largest in the world. However, Air China Cargo's current agreement with Cathay Pacific could influence the agreement between Air China Cargo and China Cargo Airlines, sources point out.

During the first half of the current year (2006), Chinese airlines collectively handled 1.17 million tonnes of cargo, registering 12.7 per cent over the same period last year. According to one estimate, China's air freight volume is expected to maintain an annual growth of over 10 per cent in the next two decades, higher than the projected world average of 6.2 per cent.