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Air China Says More Chinese Travelers Are Being Denied U.S. Visas Air China one of the world's only Boeing 747-8 operators is having trouble filling seats on some U.S. routes. It suspects fewer Chinese tourists are being granted U.S. visas. Air China Skift Take: There's no public data here so it's hard to know how much of an issue this is. But generally inbound tourism to the United States is important so if fewer visas are being granted it's probably not good for American businesses. Brian Sumers Since the Trump administration began in January Air China has seen a significant reduction in demand for U.S. flights and may have to reduce some capacity its top executive for North America said Tuesday in an interview. Of significant concern is what the airline believes is a notable decrease in the number of Chinese visitors approved for U.S. visas said Zhihang Chi Air Chinas vice president and general manager for North America. Another issue he said is ethnic Chinese living in the United States who might be avoiding returning to China for vacation because they fear theyll be hassled by U.S. border officers when they return. For the visa issue U.S. officials will not share numbers with the airline but Chi and his colleagues suspect about 15 to 16 percent of potential travelers are having their applications denied. In the Obama administration he said denial rates were about 10 percent. Air China can calculate a rough rate because it allows groups to hold seats and cancel tickets for passengers who do not receive visas. If this continues we will have to do something Chi said at the Boyd Groups annual Aviation Forecast Summit in Las Vegas. We are a for-profit cooperation and obviously we need to match supply with demand. About half of the airlines customers on U.S. flights buy tickets in China up from roughly 20 percent five or six years ago Chi said. The number of passengers from China grew considerably after 2012 Chi saidwhen President Obama streamlined the visa application process for travelers from China and Brazil. Chi said Air China has not lodged any formal protests saying the airline wants to wait to determine whether its an isolated problem. Air China is retaining the business he said but the customers are often going to Europe instead. The visa problem is of particular concern for me because people have a choice Chi said. They want to come but if they cant they go somewhere else. A representative from the U.S. Department of State did not immediately respond to a Skift question about visa approvals for Chinese travelers. But administration officials said months ago that they intended to makescreening for visa applicants tougher. Concerns From U.S. Residents Visas are not Air Chinas only concern. While the airline sells about half of its tickets for China flights in the United States theyre often bought by Chinese-Americans visiting friends and relatives. The airline does not have hard data but anecdotally Chi said he suspects many of these travelers have been deciding not to return home. The problem he said is immigration concerns and noise from the administration. People are concerned about not being able to return he said. Hes not the only executive from an Asian airlinewho has heard the concerns. John Jackson a Los Angeles-based vice president for Korean Air said Korean-Americans may have similar concerns though he noted theres little data to back it up the claim that theyre avoiding transpacific travel. Anecdotally in the Korean market Im hearing that too he said. But I think its overblown frankly. Other Issues Affecting China Demand In 2015 with business picking up because of changes to visa guidelines Air China launched a third daily flight on its marquee U.S. route Beijing to Los Angeles but Chi said that route is no longer performing as well as in the past. Chi acknowledged part of the problem may be unrelated to visa issues noting Chinese airlines have added considerable capacity to the United States in recent years. Little known Chinese airlines such asXiamen Airlines and Sichuan Airlines are now flooding the market with cheap fares. And big ones including China Eastern and China Southern continue to add flights. In recent months executives from United Airlines American Airlines and Delta Air Lines have said the Chinese market is relatively weak though none have mentioned visa issues on earnings calls. Executives have generally said capacity is ahead of demand between the United States and China. The U.S. carriers tend to view the Chinese market as a long-term play so theyve kept most of their flights and even announced new ones including Americans upcoming Los Angeles-Beijing nonstop. But in July United said it will stop flying from San Francisco toHangzhou near Shanghai with the last flight in October. http://ift.tt/2go1tC2 Angeles, The Last Flight, Boeing 747 8, Chinese Market, Air China, Korean Air, Fear Of Flying, Airline Travel, Chinese American

Air China Says More Chinese Travelers Are Being Denied U.S. Visas

Air China Says More Chinese Travelers Are Being Denied U.S. Visas Air China one of the world's only Boeing 747-8 operators is having trouble filling seats on some U.S. routes. It suspects fewer Chinese tourists are being granted U.S. visas. Air China Skift Take: There's no public data here so it's hard to know how much of an issue this is. But generally inbound tourism to the United States is important so if fewer visas are being granted it's probably not good for American businesses. Brian…

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The Last Flight
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Fear Of Flying
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