China eases international GDS rules for air bookings
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Aviation authorities in China have eased the regulations governing the booking of international airlines using non-Chinese GDS systems.
For the first time, a selection of Chinese travel agencies will be able to book the flights of certain international airlines using international GDS providers, including Amadeus and Abacus.
Air France, KLM and Lufthansa are among the first international airlines to receive approval from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) to use the international GDS, and will now be bookable through a selected group of travel agencies in Beijing.
This preliminary group of agencies will soon be expanded to include other locations like Shanghai and Guangzhou.
“Implementing a new market wide policy is not without its challenges and we appreciate the CAAC’s efforts to progress the airline applications. In addition to the initial list of approved airlines and travel agents, we have several more that have committed to working with us in the market,” said Bart Tompkins, managing director of Amadeus China.
Abacus International also hailed the move, saying it would give China’s travel trade “a wider choice of carriers and content”.
“This is step change in an already rapidly expanding sector,” said Abacus’ president & CEO, Robert Bailey. “Progress is now being made to include guaranteed automated fares from over 90 foreign airlines operating in China today. The vision of the CAAC in approving these licenses will broaden access to travel products for millions of mainland travellers.”
The latest move follows the CAAC’s decision in 2012 to ease its airline distribution regulations, allowing international GDS providers to sell flights in the country. While the opening will be progressive, it potentially opens up a huge new market to such companies as Amadeus, Abacus and Travelport.
According to IATA, routes within or connected to China will account for 24% of all new global air passenger traffic by 2017, with a total of 227 million additional passengers.
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