HONG KONG – Hong Kong-based Greater Bay Airlines has applied for 104 routes, taking the carrier up one step closer to officially competing with competitors in town which is one of the leading international centers of Southeast Asia.
In the claim filed Friday, 48 of the routes to mainland cities, including Beijing and Shanghai. The airline plans 13 destinations in Japan, as well as flights to Singapore and other major Southeast Asian countries. Big Bay applied in July for an air activity permit.
India, South Korea, Guam and Saipan are also among the planned routes. Everyone said, the flight network will cover 19 countries and regions.
Greater Bay founder, Chinese-owned tycoon Bill Wong Cho-bau has been named as a Shenzhen version of Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing. Just like Li, Wong made a fortune in real buildings. Wong eventually moved out of the ownership game and founded Donghai Airlines, based in Shenzhen.
To help get Greater Bay off the ground, Wong loaded the airline’s board with A-listers from China and Hong Kong, according to corporate filters. One director, Wang Wei, is the billionaire founder of Chinese logistics group SF Express. From Hong Kong, Executive Adviser Arthur Li Kwok-cheung is joined by Andrew Leung Kwan-yuen, president of the Legislative Council.
Also on board is Stanley Hui Hon-chun, a former chief executive of Hong Kong airport authority. Yau Ying-wah, who was the head of Cathay Dragon, a Hong Kong airline that abruptly suspended operations, was also joined the team.
Greater Bay’s nine-member boardroom is painted with a clear political look. At least five people are involved in the Chinese People’s National Congress or the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, the country’s main advisory body known as the CPPCC.
Wong, known as Huang Chubiao on the Chinese mainland, became close to Hui because both are members of the CPPCC. Hui, a veteran of the aviation industry, said the body acted as a “platform” that brought them together in an interview with Nikkei Asia. Hui has been advising Wong through the new campaign.
The company’s name “Greater Bay” refers to China’s ambitious initiative to develop a large economic span that spans the mainland Guangdong Province as well as the specific administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macao. The carrier’s employment recruitment literature states that the company will support the Hong Kong air hub in accordance with the “national development policy. “
“If so [Greater Bay] there is a close connection to the local area [Hong Kong] government or mainland government, this will help the development of the company, “said Andrew Yuen, associate director of the Center for Aviation Policy and Research at the University of China in Hong Kong.” In the aviation industry, traffic rights settlement is the an important factor. “
Big Bay has signed an agreement to lease three second-hand Boeing planes. The company employs around 500 people, mainly those with experience in the aviation industry.
There are plans in the fleet to expand to 30 aircraft over the next five years, and bring the staff to between 2,500 and 3,000 people within that time.
In addition to cargo and helicopter services, there are three carriers headquartered in Hong Kong: Cathay Pacific Airways, Hong Kong Express Airways and Hong Kong Airlines. With Hong Kong Express, a budget carrier, a subsidiary of Cathay Pacific, Big Bay will certainly be the third airline in the mix.
Hong Kong Airlines, which was affiliated with the Chinese conglomerate HNA Group, had struggled financially ahead of the coronavirus pandemic. The carrier has declined to some extent by allowing long flights. Cathay Pacific is the only obstacle to the success of Greater Bay.
With a history in Hong Kong going back more than seven decades, and with links to a British conglomerate, Cathay Pacific has been a poster child of the “one country, two systems” framework governing the land.
But in 2019, Chinese authorities warned the company that some of their employees had taken part in anti-government protests. The following year, COVID-19 pandemics hit air travel. Cathay Dragon, the central carrier under Cathay Pacific, is in the midst of cutting about 8,500 jobs.
Meanwhile Big Bay is busy picking up old Cathay Dragon pilots. The airline is looking to provide mainland routes Cathay Dragon has been handed over to air authorities, as well as flights to Japanese destinations, which has been a strength of Hong Kong. Express.
Hong Kong officials responsible for assigning routes to Nikkei said the routes will be decided on matters such as healthy competition, strengthening the city’s position as an aviation hub and the development of the airline’s industry.
As Cathay Pacific expects to regain demand for business travel, an area that is highly profitable, it expects to capture demand for short trips through Hong Kong Express. Big Bay targets travelers to the mainland, who are very sensitive to costs.
Greater Bay “would also benefit from establishing a strong leg in the [Hong Kong-mainland] market, “said Luya You, an analyst at Bank of Communications International.” With the release of Dragon, there is likely to be a vacancy in this particular market once demand builds post-COVID. “
Hong Kong is benefiting from having a geographical advantage in the heart of Asia, as well as a fully equipped airport infrastructure, according to You, which predicts a strong profit on the horizon.
Yuen believes that Greater Bay, which is primarily involved in regional flights, will not pose a short-term threat to Cathay Pacific, which embraces a business model of long and short haul flights. But Big Bay remains a troubling presence.
In terms of politics, China’s influence in Hong Kong is on the rise as evidenced by the rise of crackdown on anti-democratic activists. At the forefront of the industry, Chinese enterprises are challenging Hong Kong’s competitors with names dating back to British colonial times.
Additional commentary by Kenji Kawase.