Harmony plans flights to China by summer 2006
Carrier, tourism officials, welcome air agreement as 'key piece' in attracting travellers
Derrick Penner
Vancouver Sun
April 20, 2005
Vancouver-based Harmony Airways expects to be flying to destinations in China by the summer of 2006 under the new bilateral air agreement reached between Ottawa and Beijing, an airline official said Tuesday.
Carriers, tourism and transportation officials welcomed Tuesday's news that Canada and China have agreed to triple the number of flights allowed between the two countries as a necessary step to Canada's becoming an approved visitor destination for Chinese tourists.
"The bilateral air agreement is good news for Harmony," airline CEO Gary Collins said in a release.
He added that Harmony is applying to Transport Canada to have seven flights per week designated to the airline in 2006 and an additional seven in 2008.
Harmony has been seeking authorization to fly to China since late last year. On Tuesday, the airline's manager of corporate communications, Marie McDonnell, said their routes could be in operation by the summer of next year.
She declined to state which destinations Harmony hopes to serve, but said the airline is talking with aircraft manufacturers Boeing and Airbus to secure long-range planes for service across the Pacific.
"It's a little early to say, because that is all still in the negotiation process, but we're definitely forging ahead," McDonnell said.
She added that Harmony is also in discussion with Chinese-based carriers on co-operative agreements that will allow the airline to make domestic connections with other airlines on what is called a code-sharing basis.
Tony Gugliotta, chief financial officer of Vancouver International Airport, said Tuesday's announcement will allow his facility to market itself to airlines that get additional flights to make Vancouver a destination.
"We were at capacity [of the previous agreement]," Gugliotta said. "With the recent announcement of Canada's being granted approved destination status, it means there will be a lot more tourists able to come to Canada, and we will be able to tap that demand."
Cindy Gobin, market development manager for Asia at Tourism B.C., said B.C. was expecting to see growth in the market for Chinese visitors, regardless of approved destination status and expansion of the bilateral air agreement.
However, approved destination status will allow B.C. to market the province to potential travellers in China, and the expanded air agreement is "one of those key pieces [in] how we're going to get them here," Gobin added.
She said Canada and China have completed the first round of discussions toward finalizing the approved destination status agreement, and there is no deadline for concluding that process.
Gobin added that tourism officials want to see an orderly ramping up of traffic, and "tripling it is exactly what we needed."
Yuen Pau Woo, vice-president of the Vancouver-based Asia Pacific Foundation, believes additional planes will be filled up quickly based on what he has heard about the demand for seats on existing flights.
"I have a friend trying to get back from Beijing to Vancouver and he's been on the wait list for a couple of weeks now," he said.
Woo, however, said the next step Canada needs to take is to drop its requirement that Chinese travellers passing through Canada on the way to American destinations obtain a Canadian visa.
"Now they have to get a Canadian visa and that is prohibitive," he added.
Gugliotta said Vancouver International Airport has had discussions with Ottawa on the granting transit-without-visa status to Asian travelers.
"It [would] just allow us to take full advantage of what the bilateral agreement and approved destination status can bring to Vancouver," he said.
© The Vancouver Sun 2005
Harmony expanding...
Moderators: sky's the limit, sepia, Sulako, lilfssister, North Shore, I WAS Birddog
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golden hawk
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ScudRunner
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Except the 767 won't make it to destinations in southern China like Macau without a tech stop or big load restriction. Same with the 330. So that leaves the likely contenders the 340 or 777 with the 787 a later possibilty.. wrote:Im thinking more like a 767 common cockpit with the 757
According to Boeing - Harmony is looking at the 767 and 777. Mind you this was before Macau came available - so I would assume they would lean more towards the 777 now.
To have successful international travel though - you need a solid domestic base. Thats why you should hear an anouncment very soon that Harmony will aquire 737 NGs.
To have successful international travel though - you need a solid domestic base. Thats why you should hear an anouncment very soon that Harmony will aquire 737 NGs.
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ScudRunner
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I didn't think Canada required transit visas and that's why the Asia-Canada-Latin America routes were busy. Apparently Mexicana are looking at Asia for this kind of traffic and you can bet the Mexican government will do the necessary.
As for expansion - Harmony seem to be a very well run outfit expanding at their own pace.
As for expansion - Harmony seem to be a very well run outfit expanding at their own pace.
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bizjet_mania
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As far as I have heard they have not decided on 767's. The Asian expansion wasn't possible until the Canada/China bilaterals were concluded. Now I believe they need to see what they get designated from the Canadian government.bizjet_mania wrote:At first they were going to go with the 777, but I think they decided on 2 or 3 767s. Then again they've been talking about the Asian expansion for quite some time and we've seen nothing yet.
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Navajo-dude
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