Chinese authorities have cleared Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific Airways to fly direct to Beijing, a spokeswoman said yesterday, after the airline's partner-turned-rival Dragonair failed to block the bid.
China's Civil Aviation Administration last week granted Cathay a permit to operate between Beijing and Hong Kong, said company spokeswoman Lisa Wong.
Hong Kong's Air Transport Licensing Authority ended an air rights dispute between Cathay and Dragonair by ruling in April that Cathay could fly to three Chinese cities -- Shanghai, Beijing and Xiamen. Dragonair had challenged Cathay's bid for the flights.
Cathay expects to start running three passenger flights a week to the Chinese capital later this year, Wong said.
The venture would give Cathay a relatively small share of the market, in which Dragonair and Chinese airlines run more than 100 Hong Kong-Beijing flights a week.
"It's a small but important step for us," Wong said.
Cathay had hoped for 21 flights a week, but existing agreements between Hong Kong and China only allow the company to operate three a week to Beijing, she said.
The company wants a much larger stake in China's booming market, said another spokeswoman, Maria Yu.
"China's travel industry is developing very quickly and we hope we can be given further rights to operate more flights to match market demand," Yu said.
Cathay spokeswoman Wong said Hong Kong and Chinese officials were discussing the company's applications for operating services to Shanghai and Xiamen.
Although the former British colony of Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule six years ago, flights to the mainland operate under an aviation agreement resembling those between separate countries.
Cathay, which owns a minority stake in Dragonair, has not flown into China since turning over its routes to Dragonair in the early 1990s.
For years, the two carriers' passenger routes didn't overlap. Cathay focused on long-haul destinations and Asian business centers, while Dragonair served China and secondary Asian cities.
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