CHONGQING (CQNEWS) -- A delegation from Liaoning Fangda Group came and signed a series of cooperation agreements with Chongqing On April 1.

According to the agreements, both parties will deepen strategic cooperation in the fields of airport economic industries, logistics services, medical and health care, etc. Fangda Group and its subsidiaries have also signed a series of cooperation agreements with related departments and enterprises in the related districts and cities, involving the construction of international aviation gateway hubs, aviation leasing, and medical industry.

This is undoubtedly a significant boost for Chongqing to build an international aviation gateway hub.

The relevant person in charge of the Port Logistics Office of the Municipal Government introduced that the assistance from major airlines is indispensable for Chongqing to build an international aviation gateway hub. In this signing, HNA under Fangda Group, will participate in multiple cooperation.

In fact, HNA has strong ties with Chongqing for a long time, and its well-known aviation brands such as Hainan Airlines and West Air regard Chongqing as an important layout point.

Hainan Airlines: Adding more "international flights" waypoints of Chongqing

On March 19, Hainan Airlines Flight HU427 took off from Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport, and arrived at Milan International Airport in Italy 12 hours later. This is the first direct flight from western China to Milan, Italy.

"In the past, we had to transfer in cities in the Yangtze River Delta if we went to Milan. Now Chongqing has direct flights, which greatly facilitate students studying abroad." Wang Jing, a resident from Chengdu said that she can fly directly to Milan from Jiangbei International Airport after taking high-speed rail from Chengdu, which is much more convenient for me than before.

The person in charge of Hainan Airlines introduced that for ordinary passengers, they can also quickly transfer through Milan to many cities in Europe, Africa, and North America, and enjoy services such as visa-free transit and luggage check through at Milan Airport.

The direct flight from Chongqing to Milan is only one of Hainan Airlines’s international routes departing from Chongqing. Up to now, the international direct flights launched by Hainan Airlines from Chongqing, including flights from Chongqing to Rome, Madrid, Paris, and Milan. Hainan Airlines has also become the company which has operated the most intercontinental and international passenger flights in Chongqing.

In addition, Hainan Airlines also has more than 20 direct routes to Beijing, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Wenzhou, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Fuzhou, Xiamen, Haikou and other places in Chongqing, providing great convenience for passengers from all over the country to transfer to international flights through Chongqing.

"We have always attached great importance to Chongqing and regarded it as an important hub station in the southwestern China." The relevant person in charge of Hainan Airlines introduced that on November 23 last year, Hainan Airlines established HNA Chongqing branch in Yubei District, which is also the first branch established by Hainan Airlines in the southwestern China.

According to its positioning, HNA Chongqing Branch is the main international base airline of Chongqing Airport, and it will increase transport capacity, manpower, and fund input, add more "international flights" waypoints, build an "international + domestic" flight wave that passenger can transfer in two ways and efficiently, promote the construction of Chongqing's international aviation hub, assist Chongqing's industrial layout, and serve the local economic development.

West Air: Providing more domestic passenger support for Chongqing

"PN6449, clear for takeoff." At 6:00 in the morning on April 1, an instruction was sent from the tower of Jiangbei International Airport. Running, lifting wheels, and spreading wings, a passenger plane of West Air rose into the sky, breaking through the silence of the apron in the morning.

This was the first domestic flight departing from Jiangbei International Airport on the same day. Within half an hour, planes of West Air took off almost every five minutes, how "busy".

West Air is an important force in operating domestic flights in Chongqing.

"West Air is under HNA Group and currently has 24 passenger planes operated in Chongqing," said the relevant person in charge of West Air.

What does this mean? Taking 2023 as an example, a total of 4,395,000 passenger trips were made by West Air in Chongqing throughout the year, accounting for 9.84% of the overall market share in Chongqing, and ranking third.

Nowadays, West Air has become the “main force” of Jiangbei International Airport. The data of the 2024 Summer and Autumn Flight Plan (from March 31 to October 26) implemented by the civil aviation companies in China shows that West Air has up to 41 waypoints in Chongqing, with 558 inbound and outbound flights in Chongqing per week, nearly 80 flights on average per day, and over 100,000 seats served per week.

It will increase frequency in quantity and upgrade in quality

"Now we serve bird's nest porridge to all passengers who buy super economy class; we also arrange taxis to business travelers who have difficulties in travel." According to the relevant person in charge of West Air, West Air added a dual-class layout when its fleet was introduced, from "putting price first" to winning customers with service.

The person in charge stated that Chongqing has always been an important base for West Air. In the future, West Air will continue to leverage Chongqing's location characteristics, to increase the density and thickness of the route network from Chongqing to the plateau airports, optimize and consolidate the transfer network “Flying to Tibet and Xinjiang through Chongqing”, promote main routes with branch routes and lead branch routes by main routes. It will fully explore the need of passengers through network optimization, service upgrading, policy guidance, and utilizing product and policy advantages.

"We will also simultaneously make a significant improvement in the quality and number of transfer routes, enhance our competitiveness in the Chongqing market, and provide more domestic passenger support for Chongqing to build an international aviation gateway hub," said the person in charge.

Jiangbei International Airport: To connect the political and economic centers of the five continents in high frequency

The relevant person in charge of the Aviation Department of the Port Logistics Office of the Municipal Government stated that in this signing, HNA will add weight to its layout in Chongqing and deepen cooperation with Chongqing from many aspects.

Specifically, the Chongqing Municipal People’s Government will support HNA Group in increasing aviation resources input in Chongqing, such as expanding its transport fleet in Chongqing, developing its intercontinental route network in Chongqing by relying on HNA Group, and creating high-quality intercontinental routes; add more short flights to RCEP countries, and further develop and improve the network of intercontinental routes from Chongqing connecting the short flights to neighboring countries.

The above-mentioned person in charge said that these agreements can effectively expand Chongqing’s opening-up to the outside world, promote foreign economic and trade cooperation and cultural exchanges, and provide new impetus for Chongqing to build an international aviation gateway hub.

In fact, in addition to the assistance from HNA, Chongqing has also planned a roadmap for building an international aviation gateway hub in the future ——

It will support various airlines to exploit international passenger and freight markets, build strategic intercontinental routes that match the positioning of inland open highlands, build strategic intercontinental flight waves with comprehensive coverage and high-frequency accessibility, and support the construction of inland open highlands in Chongqing;

It will build a new aviation corridor for new western land-sea corridor, focus on new western land-sea corridor and the capital and important economic cities of RCEP countries, and build a bridgehead opening up southward in China;

It will focus on the demand for high-quality development of Chongqing’s "33618" modern manufacturing cluster system industry, consolidate the advantages of Europe and America's freight route network by making good use of the "glided signboard" of airport type national logistics hubs, fill the gaps in freight transport to ASEAN, Africa, and South America, and support the construction of inland international logistics hubs.

It is reported that by 2028, Jiangbei International Airport is expected to launch a total of 120 international (regional) routes, with more than 85 cities accessible; it actually has over 80 international (regional) routes in operation (20 more than before the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19)), with over 300 flights per week, accessible to political and economic centers in Europe, the United States, Australia, Africa, and Asia in high frequency, covering the capitals and major cities in RCEP countries. The annual international (regional) passenger throughput reached 5 million trips, and the annual international (regional) cargo and mail throughput reached 300,000 tons. (Translated by Hu Chuanmin, Fathom Language Limited)