ACE 2010 In Beijing

     From April 21-23 the 10th Airport Cities World Conference and Exhibition (ACE 2010) was held at the China World Hotel in Beijing. It was the first time that this event was hosted in mainland China.
     Hosted by Beijing’s Airport City Development (ACL), ACE 2010 attracted over 500 professionals and executives from around 50 different countries, all employed in the airport-based industry, including those from airports, aviation companies and related sectors.
     Desmond Shum, Vice Chairman and CEO of ACL, delivered the opening speech on the first day of ACE 2010:
     “The experience of other airport cities throughout the world has show us that as a new city model, the airport city plays a positive role in promoting passenger and cargo traffic, boosting local economic growth and accelerating the upgrade of industrial structure.
     Driven by an airport-based economy and the role as an international hub, Beijing Airport City has created a development model with the theme of ‘double core drivers and comprehensive growth.’
     “With logistics and industrial parks as core drivers of growth, the airport city, after completion, will integrate airport processing, logistics, a free trade zone, international trade, an industrial park, financial businesses, international exhibitions and ecological residences to promote rapid development of areas surrounding Beijing Capital International Airport, and eventually perhaps the whole city as well.”
     During the three-day event, ACL and the organizing committee arranged a series of keynote speeches as well as panel discussion on specific topics, of which Air Cargo News FlyingTypers paid much attention to the session marked “Cargo Hubs and Logistics Centers”.
     Moderated by Professor John D. Kasarda, Director of Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise, University of North Carolina, the discussion focused on “The role of developing air cargo economy: airport, region, and commercial companies located at the Airport City.”
     Ellen Hu, Vice President & General Manager of Corporate Development Department, ACL, introduced Beijing Tianzhu Free Trade Zone and the Airport City Logistic Park (ACLP) in her speech, “Developing Beijing Capital Airport into a Northeast Asia Hub.”
     “Beijing Tianzhu Free Trade Zone, the first airport-based integrated free trade zone in China, owns a total area of 5.9 square kilometers, consisting of ACLP with an area of 3.2 square kilometers and export processing zone with an area of 2.7 square kilometers.
     “It focuses on high-end airport logistics, hi-tech and high value-added industries as engines to drive the development of airport-related economy and the development of Beijing Airport City.
     “ACLP provides efficient and reliable one-stop customs clearance and integrated logistics solutions for air cargo and bonded logistic corporations.
     “Operating adjacent to airport facilities and within the airport customs boundaries, this unique feature essentially allows ACLP to offer seamless logistics connectivity.”
     Victoria Moy, President of the Global Cargo Network, gave her answers to the question, “How can Global Airports ensure and increase their strategic importance in the Global Logistics Network?” during her address.
     Efforts should include “enhancement of competitive position by becoming an integral part of a modern global supply chain, development of customer loyalty by providing innovative and practical solutions to customers, development of value-added services, development of the on-and-off airport area, and enhancement of international sales efforts.”
     Tian Baohua, Former Dean of Civil Aviation Management Institute of China, Michael Canon, Vice President, Dubai Aviation City Corporation and Wilson Chung, Vice President, FedEx China also attended the session.
     Established by Beijing Capital Airport Holding in 2004, The Airport City Development Co., Ltd. (ACL) functions as the main operating entity in charge of the planning, construction and operation of the Airport City Logistics Park Project (ACLP), which aims to facilitate the expansion of the flight area and Terminal 3 to make Beijing Capital Airport the international air logistics hub for Northeast Asia.
     ACL is also actively planning the construction of an airport city, a multifunctional complex focusing on the airport and combining functions such as air transportation, logistics, travel & recreation, shopping centers and industrial development as a whole.
David

Deer Flies Into Capital

     Deer Air, China’s leading business aviation operator, formally changed its name to Capital Airlines after an opening ceremony held in Beijing on May 2.
     Beijing-based Capital Airlines, in which China’s fourth largest carrier, Hainan Airlines Group, keeps its controlling shareholding (70 percent), gets capital injection from the state-owned enterprise, Beijing Tourism Group, which is backed by the municipal government.
     In the eyes of the local government, the launching of Capital Airlines is a realization of the long-term intent to establish an airline to promote the building of an international city, while to Hainan Airlines, it not only means more capital injection for fleet expansion but as a closer relationship with the local government.
     “The participation of Beijing municipal government will bring Capital Airlines great policy support so the carrier can gain a foothold in Beijing’s air transport market,” Li Lei, Industry Analyst, told Air Cargo News FlyingTypers.
     “However, the new carrier still faces intense competition from other players in the market as Beijing market has become a battlefield for China’s three major airlines: China Southern, Air Chine, and China Eastern.”
     While development of Capital Airlines remains to be seen, the airline has already commenced its first flight under its new flag on May 3, delivering a special delegation to Shanghai from Beijing Capital International Airport.
     “Capital Airlines will continue to enforce its position in China’s business aviation market,” said Ma Guohua, (left) President of Hainan Airlines Tour at the opening ceremony of Capital Airlines.
     “In the next few years, the fleet of business jet under Capital Airlines’ operation will expand to over 100, and better serve Beijing’s tourism development.”
     Different from other domestic airlines, Capital Airlines will keep its niche marketing strategy, with business scope ranging from international and domestic business tourism charter flights, business jet rental and medical rescue flights to aircraft hosting.
     As of now, Capital Airlines has 25 Airbus planes and 24 various luxurious business jets, using several cities as operation bases including Beijing, Guangzhou, Xi’an and Sanya. Equipped with the largest business jet fleet in the Asian and Pacific region, the company accounts for more than 90 percent of China’s business jet charter market.
     The joint-ventured carrier with Beijing signifies the third step of Hainan Airlines Group’s strategic cooperation with China’s local government, following Lucky Air with Yunan Province in 2008 and Tianjin Airlines with Tianjin in 2009.
     Marking a rapid expansion path in past years, Hainan Airlines Group currently owns over 240 planes and approximately 500 flight routes accessible to more than 90 domestic and international cities, thus transporting nearly 30 million passengers annually.
David

Contact! Talk To Geoffrey

RE: IM Pei JFK Masterpiece To Be Torn Down

Dear Geoffrey,

     In Europe everybody would be proud to have an original building of I.M. Pei. Germany is proud to have the famous museum built by him in Berlin.
     His buildings are mostly masterpieces.

Best regards,
Name withheld

     Always loved Terminal Six, the place where National Airlines flew people down to Florida aboard airplanes with bright orange interiors with cabin personnel adorned with much the same color scheme.
     Terminal Six was always super bright and when the sun went down in the late afternoon across the way above the old International Arrivals Building (IAB), airline people at the National Airline counters all wore sunglasses.
     Later, long after Pan Am, the once mighty airline had absorbed National and with its last gasp morphed into Pan Am II, it too operated for some months in the venerable Terminal Six at JFK.
     But the “new” Pan Am was short on airplanes. money and everything else but spirit.
     One Sunday when a PAA B727 that was supposed to push back to SJU pulled a mechanical and the sheep went nuts, the old pax (and air cargo) pro—the late Bill Jones (left) rolled a rented piano into the Terminal Six lobby and cooled the crowd with non-stop music and no small amount of free drink vouchers until he finally maxed out his American Express Card.
     That same evening, with one more push back left to LAX with a big A300 B4 billboarded Pan Am, Bill looked up from his desk and said:
     “Hey let’s jump over to LA?”
     Nah—I went home to a late dinner.
     But that was Terminal Six.
     What’s left that expresses the uplift in that place?
     Well the building, as you read this, is still there.
     Plus here is a video we came across that has nothing to do with Terminal Six JFK but was created to celebrate some Asian airlines including Hainan (typo on the video) that is pretty near the sense of excitement, many of us felt that hung around Terminal Six.
     Or maybe it was just a dream.
Geoffrey

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