Air China wants to be relevant on the global aviation stage

Air China’s VP and GM for North America, Dr. Zhihang Chi says Air China has evolved from a government-owned company, run largely as a public transport utility, to a publicly traded airline enterprise focused on the quality of its brand. “We need to compete for capital and we need to compete for business,” he said. “We needed to get better and to change so we have invested very heavily in our brand and our product. We have a very strong brand recognition in China, so our focus has been to gain brand recognition internationally.” To accomplish this, Air China has followed the example of alliance partners Lufthansa and United, and taken inspiration from Cathay Pacific, in which Air China has a 30% stake, he said. Those examples have encouraged Air China to make changes in its product and services, as with its innovative ground-to-air brand storytelling experience which the airline revealed in 2014. “The pace that we have upgraded fleet and upgraded our product, I would say, has been significantly dramatic,” said Dr Zhihang Chi. “Just about seven or eight years ago, we didn’t even have lie-flat First class, let alone lie-flat Business class. Today all our international long haul flights have lie-flat seats both in Business and in First. In a nut shell, that’s what we’re trying to do. We’re trying to build a product and brand that are accepted by not just Chinese travelers but by the general public world over.” Passenger mobile trends and the ready sharing of information on social media have also encouraged improvements.<br/>