Tue, Jul 16, 2002 page10

• CAL could one day rule Strait travel

  AIRLINES Taiwan's biggest air carrier, despite its poor service record, is positioned to capitalize on links with China, the nation's most important business associate

  • By Richard Dobson / STAFF REPORTER
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  Fearful of thae appalling safety record of China Airlines Co (華航), Taiwanese businessmen traveling to China have lost confidence in what is statistically one of the world's most dangerous airs carriers, according to a local poll.

  However, as the airline will still retain the lion's share of the flights between Taiwan and Hong Kong -- even after new capacity from EVA Airways (長榮), Cathay Pacific (國泰) and Dragon Air (港龍) is introduced -- Taiwanese businessmen may have little choice.

  According to the results of a telephone poll published in the current edition of the Chinese-language Global Views monthly magazine, 62 percent of Taiwanese companies will either cease flying China Airlines to Hong Kong (10 percent), choose another airline if available (28 percent) or reduce the number of times they fly the airline (24 percent) following the May 25 crash.

  The accident, in which 225 pasengers and crew perished after a China Airlines Boeing 747-200 en route to Hong Kong broke up in midair and plunged into the Taiwan Strait, has had a dramatic impact passenger volume at the airline.

  The accident, the fourth since 1994, has brought the number of deaths aboard China Airlines flights to 801 since 1970, making the airline the second deadliest in the world.

  The fear among travelers was palpable last month when passenger loads for China Airlines along the route fell from 75 percent in May to 60 percent in June, according to company statistics.

  According to the survey, most businessmen, or 30.6 percent, travel China Airlines to China via Hong Kong, followed by Cathay Pacific with 30.1 percent and then EVA with 24.7 percent.

  EVA's passenger load factors, however, increased dramatically in the same period hitting 85 percent to 90 percent compared with the industry average of around 70 percent to 75 percent, according to company data.

  But Roger Han (韓梁中), spokes-man for China Airlines said the lower passenger load factors won't last, saying that during the first two weeks of this month the load factor had already fallen to 78.6 percent and will stay there for the remainder of the peak summer travel season.

  "Most are business passengers who are not so affected by price. Convenience is the most important consideration when they chose an airline especially for the Taipei-Hong Kong route along which they must travel to destinations to Shanghai and Beijing," said Han.

  In the survey, 34.3 percent of respondents said that convenience or flight availability was the second-most important factor in choosing an airline, behind its air safety record.

  However, unlike Singapore Airlines, in which 38.2 percent of respondents said they had confidence despite the fatal crash on takeoff in 2000 of SQ006, China Airlines was ranked behind second-placed EVA and third-ranked Cathay in terms of confidence.

  Han pointed out that even when the extra capacity is introduced along the route -- with EVA increasing its weekly frequency to 49 by 2004 and Cathay and its subsidiary Dragon Air increasing by a combined total of 49 -- China Airlines will still dominate.

  "China Airlines will still have 123 flights per week including the 16 Mandarin Airlines [a China Airlines subsidiary] flights, which is still almost three times that of EVA," Han said.
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