Emirates looks at China expansion

Airline carried 103,000 tonnes of cargo between UAE and China in year ended March

Emirates carried 103,000 tones of cargo between the United Arab Emirates and China over the 12 months to March 31, 2015, according to an Emirates fact sheet.

The fact sheet, provided to journalists covering the state visit to China by His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, did not state the cargo carried over the previous year.

According to other Emirates documents provided to journalists, the airline is not satisfied with air service talks held by the UAE and China in 2013.

“It is clear the current air service agreement arrangements are insufficient to meet present and future demand,” one document says.

In the 12 months to March 31, Emirates carried 1.3 million passengers on its China services. The airline says it wants access to more secondary seats and be permitted to fly the world’s largest passenger jet — the Airbus A380 to Chinese destinations other than Beijing and Shanghai.

Emirates was the first airline to establish non-stop connectivity between the Middle East and mainland China, with freighter operations to Shanghai starting in 2002, followed by passenger services in 2004. Emirates now operates five daily passenger services to China — two to Shanghai, two to Beijing and one to Guangzhou. It also operates 10 weekly all-cargo services — seven to Shanghai and three to Guangzhou.

Advantage Dubai

The geography of Dubai makes it a gateway of opportunity for aviation links from China into Africa, the Middle East, South Asia and Europe. As China looks to connect with the world through its ‘One Belt, One Road’ initiative, Emirates is uniquely positioned to advance China’s trade and investment links as it serves 54 cities in 30 of the 65 countries identified as part of ‘One Belt, One Road’. Chinese carriers are not able to match this level of one-stop connectivity. Of the 76 points that Emirates serves in the Middle East, Africa and Europe, only one third are served by Chinese carriers.

Despite the shortage of capacity, the number of Chinese visitors to Dubai is still growing, and increased 25 per cent in 2014.