China carrier wants to mount flights to Manila

A subsidiary of China Southern Airlines Co., Asia’s largest commercial carrier in terms of passengers, is seeking to mount regular flights to the Philippines, a regulatory filing last week showed.

Xiamen Airlines, which is 51-percent owned by China Southern, filed a petition with the Philippines’ Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) for a permit to allow it to operate international scheduled passenger and cargo air transport services.

The board is set to hear the petition on Sept. 25.

There are already three other Chinese carriers operating in Manila’s busy Ninoy Aquino International Airport, and demand here continues to grow, said Jose Angel Honrado, general manager of the Manila International Airport Authority.

“We have China Air, China Southern and China Eastern. Passenger traffic seems to be bright,” Honrado said in a text message.

Established in 1984, Xiamen Airlines claims to be the only Chinese airline featuring a fleet comprised of plans made by US-based Boeing Co.

It operates a fleet of 102 aircraft with a total of 16,650 seats. The average service age of its aircraft is 5.23 years as of February this year, information posted on its website showed.

Xiamen Airlines operates 218 domestic routes, and 26 international and regional routes, and offers more than 3,200 weekly flights.

Xiamen Airline’s flight network covers major cities in China and extends to Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and Southeast Asian countries.

Chinese carriers are seen to bring additional competition to local airlines due to their large size. The Chinese carriers may also reduce opportunities given their extensive reach, especially in their home market—now the world’s second-biggest economy behind the United States.

To give an idea of its scale, China Southern alone carried 90 million passengers last year, against the 37 million passengers for all domestic and international flights in the Philippines in 2013.

Other carriers are also eyeing the Philippines as a potential expansion destination.

Earlier this month, Honrado said that they approved the request of Oman Air and Garuda Airlines to operate at the Naia Terminal 1.

The Philippines and South Africa also inked an expanded air service agreement earlier this month with at least one South African carrier keen on operating here, said Carmelo Arcilla, executive director of he Civil Aeronautics Board.