China Southern Airlines Co (中國南方航空), set to become the first Chinese carrier to fly nonstop to Taiwan, said that routing services via Hong Kong airspace will lead to longer flights, squandered fuel and higher fares.
“It’s unreasonable and a huge waste of resources and passengers’ time,” company chairman Liu Shaoyong (劉紹勇), who will pilot the first flight, said in an interview yesterday. “This must be changed as soon as possible.”
Fares for Shanghai and Taipei trips will be twice the price they could be because of the diversion, which will add an extra 90 minutes to the length of a flight, according to China Southern. The services, due to start on July 4, will have to make the detour because of Taiwanese security concerns governing the airspace in the 150km-wide Taiwan Strait.
“Nonstop flights between the mainland and Taiwan will be very profitable if they can be flown direct,” said Li Lei (李磊), an analyst at China Securities Co (中信建投證券) in Beijing. “The fare for the flights is international, while the distance is domestic.”
China Southern, like carriers worldwide, is struggling to cope with surging fuel costs. China raised the price of jet fuel 25 percent from last Friday, adding about 15 billion yuan (US$2.2 billion) a year to domestic carriers’ operating costs.
Fuel will account for more than 40 percent of China Southern’s operating costs this year based on current fuel prices, Liu said. That compares with 35 percent last year.
The airline predicted that a rebound in traffic in the fourth quarter would enable it to post a full-year profit, notwithstanding higher fuel costs and slower travel demand caused by surging inflation, natural disasters and a stock market slump.
The carrier is also cutting services, optimizing routes and reducing waste on flights to cut fuel consumption. It has also applied to raise surcharges on domestic routes.
“We’ll do everything we can to pass this difficult time,” which is the worst period for Chinese carriers since the SARS outbreak in 2003, Liu said.
China’s airlines would need a 70 yuan increase in surcharges to offset the increase in fuel prices announced last week, Li said. Beijing would be more likely to approve an extra 50 yuan, he said.
Taiwan would remain in the same international network for carrying out cross-border payments and would not be marginalized on the world stage, despite jostling among international powers, central bank Governor Yang Chin-long (楊金龍) said yesterday. Yang made the remarks during a speech at an annual event organized by Financial Information Service Co (財金資訊), which oversees Taiwan’s banking, payment and settlement systems. “The US dollar will remain the world’s major cross-border payment tool, given its high liquidity, legality and safe-haven status,” Yang said. Russia is pushing for a new cross-border payment system and highlighted the issue during a BRICS summit in October. The existing system
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to grow its revenue by about 25 percent to a new record high next year, driven by robust demand for advanced technologies used in artificial intelligence (AI) applications and crypto mining, International Data Corp (IDC) said yesterday. That would see TSMC secure a 67 percent share of the world’s foundry market next year, from 64 percent this year, IDC senior semiconductor research manager Galen Zeng (曾冠瑋) predicted. In the broader foundry definition, TSMC would see its market share rise to 36 percent next year from 33 percent this year, he said. To address concerns
Intel Corp chief financial officer Dave Zinsner said that a formal separation of the company’s factory and product development divisions is an open question that would be decided by the chipmaker’s next leader. Zinsner, who is serving as interim co-CEO following this month’s ouster of Pat Gelsinger, made the remarks on Thursday at the Barclays technology conference in San Francisco alongside co-CEO Michelle Johnston Holthaus. Intel’s struggles to keep pace with rivals — along with its deteriorating financial condition — have spurred speculation that the next CEO would make dramatic changes. That has included talk of a split of the company’s manufacturing
PROTECTIONISM: The tariffs would go into effect on Jan. 1 and are meant to protect the US’ clean energy sector from unfair Chinese practices, the US trade chief said US President Joe Biden’s administration plans to raise tariffs on solar wafers, polysilicon and some tungsten products from China to protect US clean energy businesses. The notice from the Office of US Trade Representative (USTR) said tariffs on Chinese-made solar wafers and polysilicon would rise to 50 percent from 25 percent and duties on certain tungsten products would increase from zero to 25 percent, effective on Jan. 1, following a review of Chinese trade practices under Section 301 of the US Trade Act of 1974. The decision followed a public comment period after the USTR said in September that it was considering
RSS