For Fiji Airways, as a brand, the Chinese market is the biggest on its Hong Kong flights.
This was highlighted by Fiji Airways chief marketing and sales officer Akuila Batiweti during the Fijian Tourism Exchange (FTE) at the Sheraton Fiji Golf and Beach Resort.
“Almost 80 per cent of our Hong Kong flights are from mainland China,” Mr Batiweti said.
“We really are doing a lot of work in the background. Our website is about to launch in the coming week with both Mandarin and Cantonese translation.”
Mr Batiweti said they put in a lot of work in the past year on being able to transact in the payment method the Chinese travellers use the most.
“So, we are doing a lot of work and as we build up into that and as we work through some Air Service Agreements (ASA), we hope to make some announcements at some stage in the near future.”
Mr Batiweti said the airline has increased its flights into Asia more than 200 per cent and China has always been on the list.
“We are always looking at new options and China is on the list along with a few other destinations. At this time, we have a strong partnership with Cathay Pacific and Hong Kong flights that fly directly to China.
“Our Hong Kong flights are not daily yet, and we would love to make it daily at some stage.
“And we’ve also had great partnerships with other airlines that connect with our other gateways where Chinese carriers can fly direct.”
Meanwhile, Tourism Fiji CEO Brent Hill said they were certainly looking forward to the Chinese market going forward and the potential of having tourists from China in Fiji.
