China Eastern Airlines plans to expand its fleet of aircraft to more than 800 by 2020, up from 561 as of the end of 2015, its president Ma Xulun said in an interview yesterday.  The plans to acquire hundreds of new planes come as China Eastern seeks to boost long-haul traffic to and from the US after a $450mn equity deal with Delta Air Lines Inc last year. Delta agreed to buy 3.55% of China Eastern, becoming the first US carrier to own part of a Chinese airline.
Code-share routes between the two carriers have now topped 400, compared to about around 300 previously, including routes in respective domestic markets, Ma said. Spurred by growing demand for overseas travel, Chinese airlines are adding flights to New York, Paris and Sydney from inland cities and flying to smaller cities in North America, Europe and Australia. Seats offered by Chinese carriers exceeded those offered by American carriers last year for the first time, fuelling worries about overcapacity and falling yields.  Ma said he is not worried about overcapacity on the US- China route. Over 2.6mn Chinese went to the US last year and the number is estimated to top 3mn this year. Many customers in south east Asia and northeast Asia are also heading to US cities via Pudong airport in Shanghai where China Eastern is based.  Transfer passengers at Pudong airport totalled 11.15mn last year and the figure is estimated to rise to 30mn this year.  “We are optimistic on the growth potential of the China-US market,” he said.  Earlier this week, China Eastern forecast a 60-70% jump of its first quarter earnings thanks to low fuel price and strong air travel demand.
He declined to share estimates for full year earnings but said he was optimistic on that too.  In March 3, China Eastern converted its Beijing-based full service carrier, China United Air, to a budget carrier, making it the first state carrier to tap the booming low-cost flying potential. China United is planning to expand in north, southwest and the south of China to tap the rapidly growth segment, Ma said.  When asked whether China Eastern would bring more outside investors after Delta, he said: “We always keep an open mind about investors”.