More A380 flights serving China travelers

 

By Huang Daohen

Passengers will be seeing more of the world’s biggest aircraft this year as international airlines grab more of China’s international market with regular flights abroad on Airbus’ A380 superjumbo.

 

German airline Lufthansa will be the first European airline to offer A380 services from Frankfurt-Beijing starting August 25, Lufthansa’s Beijing office said.

 

But before the A380 lands in Beijing, Lufthansa is offering Chinese passengers an opportunity to try their hand at flying a simulated superjumbo, said Arved von zur Muhlen, managing director for Lufthansa China.

 

The company has placed a high-tech simulator at city hotspots like Yansha Mall, 3.3 Sanlitun, 798 Art Zone, Wangfujing Shopping Street and Solana Lifestyle Shopping Park, Muhlen said.

 

The simulators will be around until September 4, and visitors will have a chance to win a free ticket on the A380’s maiden flight to Frankfurt.

 

Lufthansa said the flight will depart three times per week on Mondays, Wednesday and Fridays. A380 flights are already open for booking, Muhlen said.

 

But the German airline was not the first international carrier to bring the A380 to China. Emirates, the Dubai-based international airline and largest buyer of A380s, said in March that it would deploy the superjumbo on its daily flight to China starting August 1.

 

International airlines have depended heavily on the Chinese market for recovery, a Xinhua business critic said.

 

AirPlus International, a subsidiary of Lufthansa, said the company hopes to accelerate growth in China to offset losses suffered during the global economic downturn.

 

Expansion in China is a strategic priority, AirPlus president Patrick Diemer said. The company’s objective for 2010 is to regain the 65 percent settlement volume it lost during the recession.

 

Domestic carriers are also planning superjumbo flights, with China Southern Airlines – the nation’s largest airline by fleet size – having ordered five from Airbus.

 

China Southern Airlines will receive the aircraft in late 2011.