Beijing Capital International Airport will close from 7:59 pm until midnight during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games on August 8.

More than 20 flights from Shanghai to Beijing will be affected by the four-hour closure. Those flights will either be canceled or delayed.

All flights will return to schedule the following day.

China Eastern officials said it was not taking bookings for flights from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. on August 8. While flight schedules for August 8 may be adjusted at any time, the airline has pledged to inform passengers of any changes.

Because Shanghai’s two airports will handle a lot of Olympics-related business, other flights may be adversely affected.
Source: China View

One of China’s leading aircraft manufacturers has signed a framework contract with Airbus to jointly produce aircraft composite material parts and components.

Harbin Aircraft Industry Group Company Limited agreed with the European aircraft manufacturer at the Farnborough Air Show to form a joint venture manufacturing Center in Harbin.

The manufacturing center, to be set up in early 2009, will be an equity joint venture enterprise, with HAIG holding 80% stake and Airbus China owning 20%.

Under the contract, the manufacturing center will manufacture composite materials parts and components for the Airbus A320 (seen here) and participate in the  production of Airbus A350 (top illutration) XWB work-packages.
Source:EastDay.com

Air Astana is the flag carrier of the Republic of Kazakhstan. It has appointed Pacific Aviation Marketing (HK) as its general sales agent in Hong Kong and Macau and has branches in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

Air Astana is a full member of the International Air Transport Association.

Kazakhstan is the ninth largest country in the world as well as the world’s largest landlocked country.

It is bigger than Western Europe. Repeat, it is bigger than Western Europe.

Kazakhstan is bordered by Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and China.

Despite its size — ninth largest country — it only has the 62nd largest population in the world, with a population density of less than 6 people per square kilometer.

Air Astana’s network covers 25 domestic and 21 international destinations from its hubs in Almaty, Astana and Altyrau which are major towns in Kazakhstan.

The airline has scheduled flights between Beijing and Seoul and Almaty and Bangkok. Its fleet comprises 21 Airbus and Boeing aircraft and it has on order nine Airbus A320s and six Boeing 787-8s. The first A320 will be delivered in 2012 and first Boeing in 2016.
Source: Aviation Record

According to the South China Morning Post, a daily newspaper published in Hong Kong, China Southern Airlines plans to lower operating costs by RMB1.3 billion ($190.9 million) this year amid rising fuel prices and slowing demand.

The plans include a 10% pay cut for all of the carrier’s management staff effective July. The payroll of the Guangzhou-based carrier will be cut by up to RMB100 million.

Several hundred executives including chairman Liu Shaoyong will be affected.

The airline said fuel prices and other factors were set to boost its 2008 operating expenditure by RMB1.86 billion

It said it would achieve the savings by cutting RMB800 million in planned investment on infrastructure and RMB500 million in other costs.
Sources: Quamnet and Reuters.

Air China and China Eastern Airlines carried fewer passengers in June than a year earlier. The decline in traffic at two of China’s three major airlines extended a drop in May.

Air China, the country’s flag carrier, flew 2.67 million passengers in June, down 7.5% year-on-year.
Volume on international routes down 15.5% while domestic traffic fell 5.3%.
Air China reported a 4.9% slip in cargo volume in June to 74,509 tonnes
China Eastern’s passenger volume fell 11.6% to 2.75 million in June.
China Eastern’s freight volume fell 5.9% to 69,400 tonnes.
International service was down 24.6% and domestic service 9.7%.

The declining volume has compounded headaches from higher fuel prices, which boosted operating costs, and marks a rare reversal for an industry that has been buoyed in recent years by China’s strong economic growth.

China Southern Airlines, China’s largest carrier by fleet size, and Shanghai Airlines have yet to release June figures. Both also reported a slip in passenger numbers in May.

Chinese airlines have also raised domestic jet fuel surcharges as much as 50% to offset pressure from high oil prices and further increases are possible.
Source: Reuters