Kangaroo route hops off from Europe via China

A major carrier - China Southern Airlines Co Ltd - sees the capital of the Netherlands as a major gateway to global growth

Sitting in his office amid the bustle and din of flights taking off and landing at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, Pang Yedong, general manager of Guangzhou-based China Southern Airlines, said he expects to see more Chinese carriers using the travel hub as a connection point for long-haul journeys.

Schiphol is already an important destination for China Southern and the starting point for European passengers flying to Australia and New Zealand on its flights, with a stopover in Guangzhou.

"The long distance and the absence of direct flights have helped us fare well," Pang said.

"Most of the 14 flights that we operate every week are fully booked. What's more, a majority of the passengers are from Europe, thereby increasing our global appeal," Pang said. "For many of these travelers, China Southern flights are ideal because they give them a one-hour stopover in Guanghzou before proceeding to Australia or New Zealand."

Pang said offering more convenient services for Europeans who want to fly to Australasia has been an important growth area for the Chinese carrier in Europe. "We have realized how important Amsterdam and Guangzhou have been to our global plans," he said.

Guangzhou joined Beijing and Shanghai in granting 72-hour visa-free stopovers from Aug 1 last year. Under the rules, passport holders from 45 countries can enjoy visa-free stays of up to 72 hours in these Chinese cities if they are flying on to other international destinations.

Guangzhou is China's third-largest city and the commercial and manufacturing hub of the Pearl River Delta region. It is also home to China Southern, which is listed on the stock market in Hong Kong, Shanghai and New York.

"We have joined the competition on the so-called kangaroo route, and we have an advantage because it takes less time than transferring in other Asian cities," Pang said.

"What's more, we use new aircraft in some sectors, which increases our appeal further," he said.

Pang said the carrier uses new Boeing-787s on the Guangzhou-Auckland route and operates more than 10 flights every week. China Southern has also launched daily flights from Guangzhou to Sydney and Brisbane.

Pang said the Amsterdam-Guangzhou-Australia flights are shorter than other routes. "We offer rapid transfer services which last only about one hour or so. In total, the overall journey takes around 21 or 22 hours by this route."

For decades, air travelers between Europe and Australia had to spend about 25 or 26 hours on flights operated by other airlines. The route started in 1935 with a flight between London and Brisbane. Stopovers once included Brisbane, Darwin, Singapore, Bangkok, Calcutta, Karachi, Cairo, Rome, Frankfurt and Amsterdam. The route was nicknamed the kangaroo route because of all the hops it took and the destination in Australia, where the animal is indigenous.

Pang said Chinese carriers have now reached a scale where they can compete effectively with global rivals on long-haul routes. The financial and fiscal crises from 2008 affected the profitability of other global carriers and hampered their ability to buy new aircraft.

"We attach high importance to service quality and plan to focus more on enhancing our overall skills so that we can become a world-class carrier," Pang said.

China Southern carried more than 91.8 million passengers in 2013. It was ranked the best airline in Asia after passenger traffic increased 6.1 percent from 2012. Freight traffic in 2013 was 1.28 million metric tons, a year-on-year growth of 3.6 percent. The carrier also boasts the best safety record among Chinese airlines, with no major accidents in the past 235 months. By the end of 2013, the airline had recorded 11.8 million safe flying hours.

The company has expanded its overseas market and added direct flights between Guangzhou and Russia last year. It is planning more flights between the provincial capital of Guangdong and other countries, including Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain and Canada.

Pang said his company now has more than 40 international air routes and, by cooperating with Sky Team Alliance members, it has built an airline network connecting 187 countries and regions. In addition, the company also employs more than 150 foreign crew, 20 of them from the Netherlands.

Pang said Amsterdam has also been growing in line with the company's growth and expansion. In 1996, when the office was launched, there were only two flights every week between Amsterdam and Beijing and Guangzhou. Now, there are two flights a day. Every week, there are 12 to 14 cargo flights from Amsterdam to China.

"A very significant development is that we have entered into a close partnership with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines," he said.

Apart from Amsterdam, Pang said China Southern is banking on its Paris and London offices to shore up growth in Europe. The two offices have also contributed to sending more Europeans to China and Oceania through the London-Guangzhou, Paris-Guangzhou lines.

Pang, however, did not reveal any actual passenger numbers for these flights.

To further expand its operations, Pang said his company is planning to launch a new route from Guangzhou via Changsha to Frankfurt this year.

"In Amsterdam, we have done quite well, and, last year, Schiphol airport named us best performer among all Asian carriers," he said. "This is certainly better than the 2012 accolade, which listed us as the carrier with most potential."