Air France plans to further establish its presence in China by operating more flights in the coming years.

"China is a growing market, our present capacity won't be able to meet the demands of customers in a few years so we plan to lay on more flights," said Marc Bailliart, general manager of Air France China.

Air France currently operates daily flights between Beijing and Paris, five flights between Shanghai and Paris and two code-sharing flights with China Eastern Airlines also between Shanghai and Paris.

Air France also has daily flights between Hong Kong and Paris.

According to the bilateral agreement between the two countries, Air France could establish another two flights between Paris and Shanghai.

"This will depend on our talks with our code-sharing partner - China Eastern - and the economic performance in Europe," Bailliart said.

He hopes the new flights could start next year.

Air France would ask France's civil aviation authority to talk with the Chinese aviation authorities on conducting more flights between the two countries if market demand keeps increasing, he said.

"As the first European airline to begin flights between China and Europe, we are proud of our development in China," he said.

The flights between China and France are currently profitable, Bailliart said.

A report from the company suggests that in the last fiscal year which ended on March 31, transport capacity between Paris, Shanghai and Beijing increased by 9 percent compared with a year ago.

During the last fiscal year, Air France posted a net profit of 153 million euros (US$143.4 million), according to Air France Chairman Jean-Cyril Spinetta.

Air France continued to gain a market share among the Association of European Airlines (AEA) members, up from 15.4 percent to 16.9 percent on March 31 this year.

( China Daily June 7, 2002)