Airlines fly more passengers to snowy hot spots

Domestic carriers ramp up flights to tap booming winter tourism demand

Chinese airlines have been adding capacity on flights to ice and snow tourism destinations in China and neighboring countries to cash in on the rapidly growing demand this winter, a traditional off-season for civil aviation transportation.

Since December, the ice and snow tourism market in the country started heating up, welcoming a rapidly growing number of travelers. Some of the hottest destinations include Harbin, Heilongjiang province, and Altay and Kanas in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, industry players observed.

The ice city of Harbin, which has been growing in popularity for a number of years and went viral last winter, continues to maintain its popularity fueled further by the holding of the upcoming 9th Asian Winter Games in February.

Guangzhou, Guangdong province-based China Southern Airlines has added flight frequencies connecting several domestic cities with Harbin. Now, the carrier operates 56 flights a week between Shanghai and Harbin and 28 flights per week between Xi'an, Shaanxi province and Harbin.

"Domestic destinations offer higher cost-effectiveness and growing attraction to Chinese travelers with promotions by local governments and the launch of multiple fun activities," said Zou Jianjun, a professor at the Civil Aviation Management Institute of China. "As China continues to strengthen its efforts to stimulate domestic demand, launching or adding more domestic flights to popular tourism cities complies with the market demand."

Zou added that the trend of more airlines offering more flights may lead to white-hot competition and a decline in profitability. Airlines should keep observing changes in the market to help ensure their profitability.

Besides Harbin, going skiing in the Changbai Mountain area and enjoying the splendid natural scenery of soft rime ice of Northeast China's Jilin province are also sought after by travelers.

In November and December, China Southern launched direct flights connecting Beijing Daxing International Airport and Changbaishan, Jilin, as well as Shanghai and Changbaishan. Both routes are being operated with 14 flights per week.

Starting from Jan 15, China Southern plans to launch direct flights connecting Wuhan, Hubei province and Changbaishan. After the start of the 40-day Spring Festival travel rush on Jan 14, the carrier is expected to launch direct flights connecting Changbaishan with Guangzhou and Shenzhen in Guangdong province in South China.

In addition, with the opening of multiple ski resorts in Xinjiang, China Southern has added to the frequency of flights connecting Beijing Daxing and Altay, as well as Urumqi and Kanas to meet the growing demand from travelers.

Meanwhile, Chinese travelers are also showing a strong interest in taking ice and snow trips overseas. As Spring Festival approaches, Hong Kong Airlines says it has seen remarkable growth in the booking volume of flights. In particular, flight bookings to some overseas cities with ski resorts, such as Sendai and Sapporo in Japan, have seen their passenger load factors top 90 percent.

Since late October, Hong Kong Airlines increased the frequency of flights between Hong Kong and Sapporo to daily, up from thrice weekly. In late December, the carrier launched flights connecting Hong Kong and Sendai to meet growing passenger demand.

Meanwhile, Tianjin Airlines resumed flights connecting Tianjin and Sapporo on Dec 20, with the first flight having a passenger load factor of 93 percent, indicating keen demand from passengers, the carrier said.

Tongcheng Travel, a Suzhou, Jiangsu province-based online travel agency, cooperated with 11 domestic carriers this winter — including Air China and Shanghai-based China Eastern Airlines — and launched discounted prices for ice and snow enthusiasts to purchase flights to such destinations.

"In the past few years, the population base for outdoor ice and snow sports in China has continued to expand, and the number of travelers participating in ice and snow tours is constantly increasing," said Cheng Chaogong, chief researcher at the Tongcheng Research Institute.