US airlines stay cautious on China and Japan despite COVID exit
America's largest airlines are expecting a strong 2023 with or without the help of the Chinese market, as executives cater to surging global travel demand while cautiously resuming flights into China after three years of zero-COVID policy. "We're not going to get ahead of ourselves in terms of capacity to China. We're going to be very mindful to see how demand warrants and how this opens up," said Delta Airlines CEO Ed Bastian on an earnings call earlier this month. "But that's the big question mark I think, in terms of international demand for 2023 that we don't know yet." Travelers in China were eager to fly after Beijing announced the end to most of the country's international flight restrictions and quarantine measures in December. According to data from ForwardKeys, outbound flight bookings from China increased 192% the week following Beijing's announcement compared to the year before, though remaining significantly lower than pre-pandemic levels. But for the major US airlines, the question remains whether or not American travelers, especially the highly profitable corporate customers, will be as eager to return for the kind of costly long-haul flights between the US and China. Capacity for all flights in and out of China has more than doubled compared to this time last year, but is still 82% below pre-pandemic levels, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium. "All of those airplanes [before COVID days] were three-cabin, premium-fare oriented flying. And if you don't have those premium fares aboard, there's a very different economic proposition than if you had what you had in the past," said Robert Mann, a former American Airlines executive who now works as an industry consultant. And while travel demand in the US is returning to pre-pandemic levels, Mann said continued supply chain disruptions and staffing shortages will strain the equipment and labor supply for long-haul flights in particular. "The industry is still risk averse, they're still in recovery. They're not interested in flying stuff [on speculation], especially when they have limited resources in terms of aircraft and crew members," he said.<br/>
https://portal.staralliance.com/cms/news/hot-topics/2023-01-30/general/us-airlines-stay-cautious-on-china-and-japan-despite-covid-exit
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US airlines stay cautious on China and Japan despite COVID exit
America's largest airlines are expecting a strong 2023 with or without the help of the Chinese market, as executives cater to surging global travel demand while cautiously resuming flights into China after three years of zero-COVID policy. "We're not going to get ahead of ourselves in terms of capacity to China. We're going to be very mindful to see how demand warrants and how this opens up," said Delta Airlines CEO Ed Bastian on an earnings call earlier this month. "But that's the big question mark I think, in terms of international demand for 2023 that we don't know yet." Travelers in China were eager to fly after Beijing announced the end to most of the country's international flight restrictions and quarantine measures in December. According to data from ForwardKeys, outbound flight bookings from China increased 192% the week following Beijing's announcement compared to the year before, though remaining significantly lower than pre-pandemic levels. But for the major US airlines, the question remains whether or not American travelers, especially the highly profitable corporate customers, will be as eager to return for the kind of costly long-haul flights between the US and China. Capacity for all flights in and out of China has more than doubled compared to this time last year, but is still 82% below pre-pandemic levels, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium. "All of those airplanes [before COVID days] were three-cabin, premium-fare oriented flying. And if you don't have those premium fares aboard, there's a very different economic proposition than if you had what you had in the past," said Robert Mann, a former American Airlines executive who now works as an industry consultant. And while travel demand in the US is returning to pre-pandemic levels, Mann said continued supply chain disruptions and staffing shortages will strain the equipment and labor supply for long-haul flights in particular. "The industry is still risk averse, they're still in recovery. They're not interested in flying stuff [on speculation], especially when they have limited resources in terms of aircraft and crew members," he said.<br/>
