Paradise express

The drive by China’s airlines to boost their global influence with dramatic increases in capacity and the addition of dozens of new routes annually isn’t confined to the big markets of Europe, the US and even Australia.

Beijing-based Air China is launching flights to Johannesburg this month (October) the first direct air connection between mainland China and South Africa. It’s part of the grand plan as China continues to pour billions of dollars in development cash into African nations.

But the Dark Continent isn’t its only target. A little closer to home it has been targeting the numerous and mostly tiny nations of the South Pacific which, although small, represent a significant voting bloc in international organisations. But it’s not getting its own way. Some of the ‘minnows’ are putting their foot down, particularly when it comes to air rights.

As recently as July, during a visit to Beijing by Fijian Prime Minister Voreque Bainimarama, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang proposed a deal that would allow flights originating anywhere in China to fly to Nadi, with Chinese airlines having the right to make at least three intermediate stops along the way, as well as points beyond. It didn’t take the straight-talking former Fijian military commander long to react.

“I’m afraid not”, was his blunt message.

A statement from Fiji’s Department of Information a short time later made it clear it wasn’t about to open the door to a Chinese aerial invasion and threaten the viability of national flag Fiji Airways.

“China’s huge passenger capacity and its ability to undercut the fares of Fiji Airways would lure fliers away… and cause a negative effect on the airline.

There is an existing air services agreement between Fiji and China, which has yet to be enacted that would open a Nadi-Beijing route for both countries with codesharing arrangements. ” Bainimarama called for this plan to be implemented. Fiji Airways currently flies the Nadi to Hong Kong route three times weekly and the last thing it wants is the arrival of Chinese carriers operating direct flights and syphoning off its North Asia traffic. Especially since the Fijian flag carrier – rebranded from Air Pacific in 2013 – has just paid its government majority shareholder a dividend of more than A$1. 6 million after a record profit of $39 million last year. The turnaround has come under a strategic five-year plan begun in December 2013. A new chief executive, former Air Mauritius boss Andre Viljoen, takes charge this month (October), replacing Stefan Pichler, who left to become Airberlin’s chief executive in February.

China’s attempts to gain more access to and through the airports of the South Pacific is no whim.

More than 3,000 Chinese companies now operate in Pacific Island Forum (PIF) countries, from mining ventures to restaurants and grocery stores.

“Chinese state-owned enterprises have invested in Pacific fishing, nickel,

I’m afraid not”, was his blunt message.

timber, seabed mining, petroleum and tourism and are having a major impact on local economies – not all of it good”, one specialist in Chinese foreign policy, Ann-Marie Brady, wrote in a recent paper. A Professor in Political Science at the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, she says in the last few years state-subsidised Chinese fishing boats have virtually wiped out the Fijian tuna fishing industry. Brady says China has rapidly become one of the top PIF aid donors and 85 per cent of its aid is in the form of soft loans.

“As a result of this increase in assistance from China (via its Exim Bank), Tonga, Fiji, the Cook Islands and Samoa now each owe significant debts to China, with no prospects of being able to pay them back under normal conditions. China has refused to forgive the loans, so the question of how these tiny economies may repay the massive loans remains. Will China accept land leases, preferential access to resources, votes at international organisations, or all of the above in return?” For airlines, air rights are becoming more important because China’s rapidly burgeoning middle class is getting increasing access to travel and the so‑called “paradise islands” of the Pacific are fast becoming a leisure target.

In the Micronesian island of Palau, for example, Chinese represented almost 62 per cent of all visitors in February, up from just 16 per cent a year earlier.

Peddling influence has become an issue for aviation authorities in Australia and New Zealand. Last year Wellington advised its citizens not to fly on Tonga’s local carrier, Real Tonga, after it was gifted a Chinese-made 60- seat turboprop Xian MA-60, worth around $20 million, by the Chinese government. The delivery included spare parts and training and prompted New Zealand’s Air Chathams to leave after five years rather than face what it considered to be subsidised competition. The New Zealand government posted a travel advisory on its website, warning that MA-60 aircraft had been involved in several recent crashes in other countries and didn’t have recognised certification.

The result: a dramatic drop in Kiwi visitors to Tonga. China’s bid to get more open air access to Fiji is unlikely to be its last attempt to throw its weight around South Pacific skies.