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American Airlines has grown 30% in the Asian market in just the past few years, according to vice president of alliances and partnerships Joe Mohan.
But that growth will halt in the coming years.
“Now we view that as mature,” Mahan said Tuesday at the Capa Americas Aviation Summit in Orlando.
His comments came just a week after American announced plans to invest $200 million in a 2.7% stake in China Southern Airlines.
As part of the deal, the two carriers expect to begin codeshare and interline agreements later this year, with American flyers gaining access to 70 destinations in the China Southern network beyond Beijing and Shanghai.
Among the recent routes that American has added are Los Angeles-Hong Kong and Dallas-Shanghai. Late last year, American also won the right from the DOT to operate the last available service by a U.S. carrier into Beijing under the existing U.S-China aviation agreement. However, the carrier hasn’t launched its planned Los Angeles-Beijing flight and accuses China of not making the landing slot available. The DOT recently granted American six more months to make use of the slot, for which Delta also applied.
Mohan said that Dallas and Los Angeles are successful Asia gateways for American. But going forward, the carrier will lean on codeshare partnerships with China Southern, Japan Airlines and Cathay Pacific for growth.
American won’t fly to secondary Asian cities, he added — a step United has begun taking in China.
Sоurсе: travelweekly.com
