Over the recent years, foreign airlines have been expanding their operation scales in China and an increasing number of flights are being run by foreign airlines. In order to strengthen the management of foreign airlines, improve their service capacity, and promote communication and exchanges between the two sides, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) held the first Work Conference of Foreign Airlines Representatives in Beijing on June 26. CAAC Deputy Chief Xia Xinghua was present at the conference, together with 73 representatives from 49 foreign airlines - including 4 airlines from Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan.

So far, Chinese government has signed bilateral air transport agreements with 114 countries and regions. Up to 106 airlines from 56 countries and regions have launched up to 2,224 cargo and passenger flight services per week to 37 cities in China.

Faced with the rapid-developing Chinese aviation market, many overseas carriers as well as some carriers in Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan are expecting to expand their businesses in mainland China. Based on feedbacks from various aspects, there are quite a lot of foreign airlines who are eager to open Chinese routes or increase their current flights to and from China. According to Xia, although CAAC has put enormous efforts in easing air congestion these years and made some achievements, the airspace in China still fails to meet the demand at present, especially for airports in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, etc., where the tight flight schedules will not see improvement in the short run.

In the first half of 2012, the passenger and cargo volumes of major airports in East China were way below the industry's average level, mainly due to the busy flight schedules. On the other hand, provinces in the Midwest China saw fast growth in terms of passenger and cargo volume, benefiting from their relatively adequate flight schedules.

On the issue of foreign airlines entering into Chinese market, China has always held a positive and open attitude. CAAC always sticks to the market opening principle while negotiating bilateral traffic rights with foreign countries and regions, said Xia. However, the limited airspace turns out to be a major restriction factor for the further opening of market. It will have direct influence on the efficiency and quality of the to-be-launched air routes if foreign airlines cannot get appropriate schedules. Therefore, CAAC encourages foreign airlines, as well as airlines from Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, to code share with mainland airlines, so as to further develop the Chinese aviation market.