JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018 businesstraveller.comMIGHT CATHAY PACIFIC
QUIT ONEWORLD
POSTAMCWHIRTER
Today comes news from Hong Kong’s
South China Morning Postthat local
airline Cathay Pacific (CX) may depart
Oneworld (OW) in favour of a rival
alliance like Star or Skyteam. I must
stress that it’s speculation at this stage but
there are rumours that this could happen
should mainland carrier China Southern
(CZ) defect from Skyteam in favour of
Oneworld. If this were to happen there
would certainly be a conflict between the
two carriers. In particular the mainland
Chinese carriers combined have already
stolen a slice of Cathay Pacific’s market
between Hong Kong, Europe and North
America. For its part CX has already
been cooperating with Star’s founding
member Lufthansa (LH) for some
months already. And CX is also 30 per
cent owned by Air China, another Star
member. Developments are awaited.➜RFERGUSON
My feeling is that they won’t leave OW.
OW has always been one of the loser
alliances and airlines like CX are using
that to their advantage – ie the LH tie-
up. They can enjoy the freedom of being
part of one of the large alliances whilst
still pursuing independent agreements
with airlines from competing alliances
without grief from other OW airlines. I
know the fact that Star’s Air China is a
large shareholder in CX has fuelled the
“leaving OW” rumours but it’s worth
noting Qatar (QR) is also their third-
largest shareholder. Regarding CZ
leaving Skyteam, I read elsewhere that
this is due to it feeling like a “second
tier” airline within the alliance. Both CZ
and China Eastern (CE) are in Skyteam.
The article mentions that since Delta
(cited as the “one that calls the shots in
Skyteam”) purchased a stake in CE itBIZARRE FOODS IN
PURSUIT OF BUSINESS
POST MARTYNSINCLAIR
Has anyone tried any bizarre foods –
especially when you have a client/customer
opposite you and there’s a big contract
waiting to be signed? I’ve always fancied
trying the fugu fish in Japan, but the right
opportunity has never presented itself.
Been to a snake restaurant in Vietnam but
bottled it, avoided trying both rattlesnake
and crocodile in the States... I suppose I’m
quite boring where food is concerned...➜ NAVNOV- Fugu fish, snake wine, sparrow-on-a-
stick in Japan. - Rattlesnake burger in Camden Town.
- Crocodiles and kangaroos Down Under.
- Duck’s heart, lungs, liver and curdled
blood at a duck-only place in Shanghai. - Brain masala; a sumptuous, spicy dish
I have had in India, London and Sydney.
➜ STEVESCOOTS
It’s a long list, such are the exotic tastes
of Officials in Asia (when someone else
is paying!): snake, lots of it; sheep’s
tail, as disgusting as it sounds; sheep’s
anus...; buffalo hoof, slow cooked and
just about the only thing I have nearly
thrown up while eating; monkey, or at
least that’s what they said it was...➜ FAROFLYER
Dog in South Korea and the following
in China: deep-fried beetles, deep-fried
duck beak, snake, turtle paws. The
only food that I have ever had a serious
reaction to was drunken prawns in Hong
Kong. When I was young my mother
would cook sheep’s brains on toast if I
was unwell. I wish I could get the recipe
and ingredients, as they were lovely.has been pushing much more business
in their direction and neglecting CZ.
As Air China is in Star, OW would be
an obvious choice for CZ – and a boon
for OW which has no alliance airline in
mainland China.➜LUGANOPIRATE
The other side of the coin is whether
Star Alliance carriers such as Singapore
Airlines and Thai would be happy letting
another rival in. Both serve HKG via
their SIN and BKK hubs so they may
object quite strongly.➜IANFROMHKG
It’s an interesting idea, but I’m not
sure that CZ is really that much of a
competitor to CX in Hong Kong. Now
that I no longer travel for work, I regularly
check alternative routings/airlines for
long-haul travel in order to get the best
deals, and have yet to find a competitive
fare/routing on CZ. This is probably
because it isn’t easy to get between HKG
(Hong Kong) and CAN (Guangzhou). Do
you know how many flights there are per
day between HKG and CAN? Two – both
operated by Cathay Dragon. The fastest
alternative travel option (driving) takes at
least two hours. Other options are three-
plus hours – in which time you could be
in BKK with a vast number of possible
connections.
Where CZ might be a competitor is in
Europe-China or North America-China- but CX have plenty of competition on
those indirect routes already anyway.
And don’t forget that CX’s alliance
partners Finnair and British Airways
compete in the HK-Europe market,
American Airlines in the HK-North
America market, Qantas in the HK-
Australia market, etc. Having a Chinese
partner for domestic routes can only be
good for Oneworld, IMHO. I don’t really
see what CX has to be afraid of.
Join the debate
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