Charter flight to Shanghai grounded

Additional subsidies would’ve been needed

Last August, for the first time ever, a charter flight from Shanghai touched down at Pittsburgh International Airport with hopes that it would be the start of something big.

But there will be no encore this year, thanks in part to strong headwinds, including the trade dispute between the United States and China.

Airport and business, civic and political leaders had hoped the flight last year would produce others this year and next under a three- year deal with tour operator Caissa Touristic to market and sell trips to the Steel City.

However, there will be no flight in 2019, confirmed Michael Matesic, president and CEO of the Idea Foundry, a Pittsburgh- based nonprofit instrumental in bringing the service here last year.

A multitude of factors led to its grounding, Mr. Matesic said, one indirectly being the trade battle between President Donald Trump and the Chinese government.

The dispute has helped drive a slowdown in China’s economy, which in turn has affected tourism and travel, he said. Caissa Touristic, he noted, has estimated that tourism from China is down 30% this year.

In addition, there were fears in China that getting visas from the U. S. government for travel to the United States would be difficult or impossible to obtain, added Mr.

Matesic, whose nonprofit works with Chinese families and students to encourage educational ties and investment.

“I can say the word of the street in China was that travelers are going to have a harder time to get a visa,” he said. “The Chinese government was not contradicting that in any way.”

One of the most significant factors, he said, was the availability of a plane to haul tourists from China and back. Airlines are reluctant to give up such valuable assets for just a couple of flights.

In a statement, the Allegheny County Airport Authority, which operates Pittsburgh International, also tied the flight’s demise this year to the availability of a plane.

“The China charter flights were a success in 2018 and we were optimistic that they would lead to more flights this year. Based on limited aircraft availability, we could not confirm a plane in time to ensure flight success,” it stated.

The 2018 charter was nearly a year late in starting, in part due to efforts to find a plane and to give Caissa Touristic more time to sell tickets. It represented the first commercial flight from China to land in Pittsburgh.

Last year’s inaugural service was backed by nearly $ 1 million in incentives, with up to $ 560,000 of that coming from the airport authority, depending on how many tickets were sold for a Pittsburghto- Shanghai flight Aug. 3 and a Shanghai- toPittsburgh leg Aug. 11.

Since at least 200 tickets were sold for those trips, the authority likely paid less than the maximum subsidy. It did not provide details on just how much was paid Thursday.

VisitPittsburgh kicked in another $ 300,000 in cash, and in- kind contributions for the flight and Idea Foundry provided $ 50,000.

The contributions were made even though the flight was guaranteed only for one year — making a good start paramount.

Toward that end, airport and local officials rolled out the red carpet when more than 300 visitors from Shanghai landed last Aug. 3 for the eight- day visit to Pittsburgh and other cities.

There were festivities at the airport, a welcome dinner at Carnegie Science Center and visits to popular destinations such as Mount Washington, the Carnegie museums in Oakland, and the University of Pittsburgh nationality rooms.

While the China Eastern Airlines Boeing 777 carrying tourists from Shanghai to Pittsburgh on the first flight was packed, the return flight that day was only about 30% filled. The same was the case for the Shanghaito- Pittsburgh leg on Aug. 11, 2018.

Still, Mr. Matesic described last year’s effort as “quite successful.” But he added the only way to get the flight this year, given the current climate, would have been to spend twice as much as 2018 in subsidies.

“Our goal was not to increase the amount of subsidies to make it happen,” he said.

While the flight won’t return in 2019, the airport authority stated, “We continue to believe in the strength of the China market and are excited about future opportunities to offer nonstop service from Pittsburgh to Asia.”

Likewise, Mr. Matesic said he, the authority, and others involved are continuing efforts to bring back the flight in 2020 and beyond, hopefully as trade tensions ease and China’s economy improves.

“The current environment is not helpful, but we have not given up,” he said.