Kangaroo Route Turns Chinese With Flights to Guangzhou

[flee 5]

Travelers plying the Kangaroo Route between Australia and Europe have discovered the cheapest path goes through Guangzhou.

 

China Southern Airlines Co. (1055) is undercutting Qantas Airways Ltd. (QAN) by as much as 34 percent on the cost of Sydney-to-London tickets and from April 1 will operate more flights to Europe than the Australian carrier. The Guangzhou, China-based airline said it’s ready to sacrifice profitability as it lures traffic from Singapore and Hong Kong.

 

China’s three biggest carriers, including Air China Ltd. (601111) and China Eastern Airlines Corp. (670), have tripled flights from Oceania to Europe over the past five years, while upgrading services. The route will provide experience needed for further expansion into North America and Europe as annual spending by Chinese tourists exceeds $100 billion. Qantas is fighting back with discounted fares to Asia.

 

“The sheer volumes of travelers mean that eventually China can be the most powerful transit country in the region, probably the world,” Peter Harbison, executive chairman of CAPA Centre for Aviation, said by e-mail. “They will be able to price very, very competitively.”

 

The shift is squeezing carriers on the route, which started in 1935 with a 12 1/2-day trip between London and Brisbane. Stopovers once included Brisbane, Darwin, Singapore, Bangkok, Calcutta, Karachi, Cairo, Rome and Frankfurt, according to Aussieairliners.org, giving rise to the trademarked Kangaroo Route nickname.

 

Read more here: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-12/kangaroo-route-turns-chinese-with-flights-to-guangzhou.html

[Mike P 0]

Qantas is quite expensive compared to other carriers.

[Josh T 0]

I don't care how cheap the China-based airlines are, I will never fly with them. I have heard too many horror stories from my friends.

[Walter Sim 1]

You can get kul can Mel for around 2100myr

[Mike P 0]

I don't care how cheap the China-based airlines are, I will never fly with them. I have heard too many horror stories from my friends.

 

Like pooing at the aisle? LOL

[Mohd Suhaimi Fariz 2]

You can get kul can Mel for around 2100myr

I guess people don't mind backtracking for the right price.

[Josh T 0]

CAN is too far a backtrack from KUL to MEL.

[S V Choong 4]

I don't care how cheap the China-based airlines are, I will never fly with them. I have heard too many horror stories from my friends.

I haven't flown long haul with the Chinese carrier but I have for short haul within PRC, it was all okay, no peeing or pooing on the flights,

 

These days you have a high chance of bumping into a mainland passenger even if you fly CX or SQ.

[Mohd Azizul Ramli 2]

Interesting article. A close friend of mine is planning to fly his family (8 pax in total) from KUL to LHR in April. All his researches at Kayak, Skyscanner etc. pointed out that CZ gives the best fares. But he is still contemplating due to:

• CZ does not have a good image/brand name, at least among average Malaysian travelers.
• Lack of knowledge about how to transit in CAN. Most Malaysian travelers are aware that one needs a visa to enter China, which is hassling.

So I guess until the 2 points above are resolved by CZ and CAN, competitors have nothing/less to worry about.

 

But the emerging threats of CZ and CAN are undeniable:

• CZ is the world's 9th largest airline by ASK, ahead of SQ, CX, QF and all its mainland China's rivals. The only airline from Asia that is ahead of CZ is EK. As a comparison, MH is ranked 31st in the same list. http://centreforaviation.com/analysis/united-ends-2012-as-worlds-biggest-airline-emirates-third-turkish-and-lion-air-the-biggest-movers-93047
• CAN is world's 18th busiest airport, handling 44.8 million pax from Jan - Nov 2012, with average pax growth of 8.4%. CAN is mainland China's 2nd busiest airport, ahead of PVG. As a comparison, KUL is ranked 28th with 36 million pax during the same period. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World%27s_busiest_airports_by_passenger_traffic

[S V Choong 4]

I think foreigners can transit in china without a visa for upto 24 or 48 hours.

[Isaac 0]

I don't care how cheap the China-based airlines are, I will never fly with them. I have heard too many horror stories from my friends.

Given a chance, nobody will choose to fly LCC, EK 777 etc. But at the end of the day, most people still vote with their wallet.

 

 

CAN is too far a backtrack from KUL to MEL.

Generally not a problem for the cost conscious travellers.

 

 

These days you have a high chance of bumping into a mainland passenger even if you fly CX or SQ.

Very true! It is the same with MH.

 

 

 

Interesting article. A close friend of mine is planning to fly his family (8 pax in total) from KUL to LHR in April. All his researches at Kayak, Skyscanner etc. pointed out that CZ gives the best fares. But he is still contemplating due to:

• CZ does not have a good image/brand name, at least among average Malaysian travelers.
• Lack of knowledge about how to transit in CAN. Most Malaysian travelers are aware that one needs a visa to enter China, which is hassling.

Malaysian passport holder gets up to XX hours of VISA free transit at a few international airports in China. One has always been able to transit through PVG absolutely VISA free for many years already. However, this privilege has recently been extended to other Chinese international airports. There was a news on this just a few weeks ago.

[alberttky 0]

fly at your own risk. might find some kid pooping on the aisle.

[Kee Hooi Yen 0]

I think foreigners can transit in china without a visa for upto 24 or 48 hours.

 

Not sure about others but for Australian passport holders it only applies if transit via Beijing or Shanghai

[KK Lee 5]

LHR-HKG-SYD/MEL is a popular route, CAN is not far off from HKG.

 

 

fly at your own risk. might find some kid pooping on the aisle.

 

Some hawker stall keepers/workers could be a lot higher risk and yet many people still flock to them.

Edited March 13, 2013 by KK Lee

[Alif A. F. 0]

HKG isn't China enough?

[Waiping 12]

Pooing is rare but just yesterday read from a FB post about theft on flight to HKG (I think). The owner suspected that someone "disturb" her belonging during flight and found out that some jewelry were missing. The couple stopped the passengers from disembarking upon landing and the police took over. Reported that a few similar cases point to suspect from the same Chinese town/city.

 

Since more and more people an afford to fly, these may happen more frequent than seeing kids poo on the aisle.

[Isaac 0]

HKG isn't China enough?

No. Hong Kong is far cleaner. And most original Hong Kong residents still do not want to admit themselves as Chinese nationals. Besides, most Hong Kong millionaires are actually citizens of other country but at the same time still hold a Hong Kong passport.

[KK Lee 5]

I don't care how cheap the China-based airlines are, I will never fly with them. I have heard too many horror stories from my friends.

 

Mean you don't plan to visit China and travel within China by air.