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The airline industry is bracing for the mainland’s biggest carrier to pull out of one global alliance and join another in a move that could have a significant impact on Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific group. “I think we have to accept the reality,” Delta Greater China chief, Wong Hong, said. “It is more for them to think through and decide.” Delta is one of the founding airlines of the Skyteam alliance, which China Southern Airlines may pull out of after an internal review of the benefits and impact of a defection. With China Southern eyeing membership in Oneworld, which already includes Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon, Hong Kong’s flagship carrier could in turn move to Star Alliance. Remaining in Oneworld with China Southern would bring the two carriers’ home bases of Hong Kong and Guangzhou too close together, with destinations they serve overlapping and the airlines competing for the same pool of long-haul travellers. Joining Star Alliance, the same club as national carrier Air China, would bring Cathay closer to its second-biggest shareholder. Guangzhou, the main airport for China Southern, is only 120km from Cathay’s home base, and handled 60m travellers last year, 10m fewer than Hong Kong saw. For now, China Southern was still playing an important role, Wong said. “Until such time … [the move] is a decision China Southern may make at some point in the future. Today, officially, they are with us and they are no different to any other Skyteam partner.” China Southern president Tan Wangeng was recently quoted as saying the future of its alliance membership was “a sensitive topic”.<br/>

China’s third largest airline is teaming up with the world’s most valuable and profitable carrier in a bid to secure an edge over its rivals at Beijing’s new seven-runway airport, setting the stage for cutthroat competition when it opens in 2019. As the country’s three big state-owned carriers look for the advantage, with the airport being built in Beijing’s southern suburb of Daxing, China Eastern Airlines will tap into US giant Delta’s operational experience that helped with the success of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the Post has learned. China Eastern is poised to relocate to the capital’s new US$12.9b Beijing Daxing International Airport within two years to challenge flagship carrier Air China, which will remain at the existing Beijing Capital Airport. China Southern, China Eastern and Air China currently compete from their “home” airports in Guangzhou, Shanghai and Beijing respectively. Each currently runs smaller operations in rival cities, but will now compete for the first time on a much bigger scale in the same city. With its new home, China Eastern is hoping to attract transfer passengers and expand its customer base. It is counting on the experience of Delta. “With new infrastructure developments [coming], that will give China Eastern a tremendous uplift, and they can base aircraft over there and set up a very sizeable network,” said Delta’s China president, Wong Hong. “We see that as a very strong second hub we develop, together with Delta. We have a lot of experience in developing hubs in the United States, so using that experience, working with China Eastern, we are so excited to partner with them, expanding a market like Beijing.”<br/>