China’s Spring Airlines opens Shenzhen hub

China's Spring Airlines has opened a hub at Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport to capitalize on the growth of the China Greater Bay Area, which comprises Hong Kong, Macau and the Guangdong province. Spring Airlines has committed to the hub seven Airbus A320s to fly 15 domestic routes, such as Shanghai, Tianjin, Chongqing, Xi’an and Shenyang, as well as two international routes to Nagoya, Japan and Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Spring Airlines started flying to Shenzhen from Shanghai in 2010, and soon added another service from Shijiazhuang, but was only given the nod from Civil Aviation Administration of China to establish the hub in November 2018. Spring Airlines chairman Wang Qi told Chinese media that establishing the Shenzhen branch will further promote the convergence of people, logistics and capital flows into the GBA, and provide support for the region’s aviation development. In 2018, the airline recorded around 1.6m passengers from Shenzhen alone, with average load factors of 94.5%. For the first six months of 2019, it has served 850,000 passengers. Spring Airlines said it would increase its investment and provide more services for the residents in the GBA, and make Shenzhen a hub between its North Asia and Southeast Asia markets.<br/>