News
China Airlines laments slot restrictions
August 11th 2017
Taiwan’s China Airlines (CAL) is facing difficulty acquiring more slots into Hong Kong, Shanghai and Incheon, said CAL chairman, Nuan-hsuan Ho. Read More »
At a news conference in Taipei, Ho said CAL’s requests for additional slots in the three cities have been rejected on grounds of slot shortages. He blamed the situation on increasingly congested airspace and a degree of “protectionism”. The CAL boss said his airline required the extra slots to capture connector traffic feeding into its long-haul network.
Ho also called on Taiwan’s Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) to curb “over-deregulation” in Taiwan that could disrupt the supply and demand balance. Taiwan has experienced an influx of new carriers in the past five years, particularly low-cost airlines from Japan, China and Southeast Asia. Taipei airport is increasingly congested, a situation aggravated by the absence of a dedicated budget terminal at the facility.
The next carrier to launch in Taiwan will be StarLux, a full-service, “premium” network carrier being set up by Chang Kuo-wei, the former chairman of EVA Airways who was ousted from his position in a family feud.
The CAA has yet to approve StarLux. CAL’s Ho said he was “neutral” about the new airline, but he cautioned new entrants would face difficulties unless they were granted the right slots and traffic rights. He said StarLux would be entering a saturated market making profitability a challenge.
At CAL, the balance sheet has improved. Ho said results in the second quarter were good, with Mandarin Airlines back in the black and Tigerair Taiwan reporting improved monthly earnings.
