Starting August 3, China Eastern Airlines formally opened its international flights from Chengdu via Shanghai to seven cities in Europe, Australia and Asia.

Specifically speaking, these flights are from Chengdu via Shanghai to Los Angeles in the USA, Vancouver in Canada, London in the UK, Paris in France, Sydney in Australia, and Delhi in India. Except for the air route to Paris, all the rest are opened first in Chengdu.

It is reported that the three major groups -- Air China, China Southern and China Eastern -- will successively open another 17 international air routes in Chengdu still within this year, which will enable Chengdu to have a record breaking 24 international and regional air routes, and become the 'fourth city' in China, after the three major domestic airport pivots of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, that have opened international air routes.

Mr. Zhang Jianzhong, deputy general manager of China Eastern Airlines, said that besides Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, Chengdu is undoubtedly a civil aviation market with the most advantages over passenger source in China, and its market penetration capacity can not be possibly rivaled by any other cities in the west area.

The number of passengers passing in and out of Chengdu last year reached 11 million, ranking the fifth among major domestic airports.

Meanwhile, as a province and a city with the most powerful overall strength in west China, Sichuan and Chengdu can penetrate into the civil aviation market in provinces and regions such as Yunnan, Guizhou, Chongqing and Tibet.

Besides the three major cities of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, Chengdu will be the first place for China Eastern Airlines to develop its international air routes, and later on we will continue opening international air routes from Chengdu to Japan and Korea.

(China.org.cn August 8, 2005)