“China Civil Aviation News” and China Civil Aviation Network reporter Hao Meng reported: For ordinary passengers, most of the civil aviation routes that everyone is familiar with are point-to-point direct flights. But in the criss-cross route network, maybe because there is no direct flight between the destination and the origin, or because the direct flight ticket is sold out, some passengers need to get off the plane and “transfer” before arriving at the destination. The flight is the so-called “transit flight” of civil aviation, also known as “transit connecting flight”.
Speaking of the term “transit”, people who often fly by plane are no strangers. But when it comes to transit, most people will inevitably resist in their hearts. In the past, passengers who had to buy tickets for connecting flights had to calculate the interval between the two flights before buying the tickets, and more careful passengers would also calculate the possible delay time of the flight. After arriving at the transit airport, passengers often need to get off the plane with large bags and small bags, and go to the designated counter to go through the check-in procedures for the next segment of the flight. If there is checked luggage, the passenger must first go to the baggage reclaim area to pick up the luggage, and then re-check and check the luggage.
With the improvement of relevant civil aviation policies and the upgrading of transit services, transit flights are no longer a helpless choice for passengers, but another travel experience for passengers.
Convenient transit requires the cooperation of multiple civil aviation departments
The civil aviation transit service is an effective way to meet the needs of passengers to reach their destinations when the point-to-point passenger flow is not enough to support the airlines to operate direct flights.
At present, there are still some small and medium-sized airports and regional airports in my country that have less passenger flow for outbound flights. In order to meet the travel needs of the vast number of passengers, it is a scientific and effective method with the best total social value to transport passengers from the city where the small airport is located to a nearby large airport with strong accessibility, and then transport them from the large airport to all parts of the country. The way. At the same time, the airspace and time resources of many trunk airports in my country are relatively tight. Establishing a “combination of trunk and branch” hub network to meet the needs of relatively scattered and small-flow passengers through transit is also a way to efficiently use resources.
Most of the airlines operating transit routes have well-established route networks and dense flights, which can not only maximize the advantages of convenient and fast air transportation, but also bring flexible and diverse choices for passengers to travel. However, in order to operate transit routes well, multiple civil aviation departments need to work together to provide passengers with truly convenient and comfortable services.
In order to provide better services for transit passengers, civil aviation provides one-stop air-ground service for passengers who purchase transit flight tickets. Starting from the ticket sales process, each department will notify the follow-up department of the name, number of passengers, and flight transfer status of the transit passengers. After the transfer passenger arrives at the transfer airport, as long as he finds the transfer service counter in the arrival hall, there will be special ground service personnel to assist the passenger to pick up the luggage or handle the check-in procedures for the subsequent flight.
The “Guidelines” are released to support the improvement of the quality of transit flights
Doing a good job of flight transfer service is not easy. To improve the efficiency of transfer services, airlines and airports need to create a scientific flight wave, realize the close connection of flight schedules, provide efficient baggage transfer services, improve transfer passenger service measures, and build a complete transfer passenger information monitoring system.
Experience has shown that the key and difficult point of a good transfer service is to monitor the information of transfer passengers and provide baggage check-in service or checked baggage customs clearance service. The reporter learned from an airline company that in order to do a good job in baggage through check-in service, it needs the cooperation of multiple departments and the adoption of various information means. In order to improve the efficiency of baggage transfer, airlines often need to carry out separate loading and pre-declaration of the baggage of transfer passengers on the previous flight. After the plane arrives at the transit airport, airline or airport staff need to quickly and accurately move the transit luggage to the next flight. If international passenger luggage transfer is involved, the cooperation of customs is required. The optimization of each link above requires the support of national policies.
In February 2021, the Civil Aviation Administration issued the “Guidelines for the Implementation of Civil Aviation Passenger Transit Facilitation”. The whole industry focused on the pain points and difficulties of passenger air travel and transit services, actively explored new models, new products, and new formats, and launched a series of market-oriented Different groups, with personalized, differentiated and targeted aviation service products, continuously improve the level of transit convenience and service capabilities. In 2022, based on the first edition of the guidelines, CAAC organized revisions and issued the “Guidelines for the Implementation of Civil Aviation Passenger Transit Facilitation (Second Edition)” in combination with practical experience in the industry and the construction of an industry-level digital platform, further clarifying relevant responsibilities requirements and operating procedures.
The “Guidelines (Second Edition)” lists departure airports, transit airports, arrival airports, carriers and general aviation companies, ground service agents, aviation sales agents, operators of aviation sales network platforms, aviation information assurance units ( The list of responsibilities and specific tasks of seven types of collaborating entities, including the Clearing Center of the Civil Aviation Administration and TravelSky, clarified the basic requirements for transit facilitation and the organization model, operation mechanism, guarantee process, and information transmission of on-line flights, and further improved transit convenience. The large-scale process of the air travel ecosphere that provides personalized services enables relevant entities to clearly define their responsibilities and perform their duties.
The “Guide (Second Edition)” not only pursues speed and efficiency, but also pays attention to the improvement of service quality, and adjusts the maximum time interval between the scheduled arrival of the passenger’s previous flight and the scheduled departure of the next flight from 24 hours to 48 hours , so as to enrich the transit service products and reserve more space for the construction of the “civil aviation +” ecosystem.
One-time check-in, baggage check-in
Efficient connection of connecting flights
Not only airlines are working hard on transit routes, but many airports are also working hard on the transit service process.
Chengdu Tianfu International Airport, as a new airport, gives full play to its advantages in software and hardware, and takes various measures to improve the transit experience of passengers. Last year, under the leadership of the Southwest Regional Administration of Civil Aviation, Tianfu Airport preliminarily built a “five in and five out” flight wave with the characteristics of a world-class hub, which greatly increased the opportunities for flight connections, and also innovated and built efficient transfer channels to enrich travel options for passengers. . Not only that, Tianfu Airport also took the lead in piloting the application of the two major transit information platforms of the Civil Aviation Administration of China to expand the scope of transit services across airlines. Carry out the pilot project of transferring from Xichang via Tianfu Airport first, and provide one-time check-in and baggage check-in services for all passengers transferring via Tianfu Airport.
According to the staff of Tianfu Airport, this kind of transfer service product allows transfer passengers to check in for two flights at the departure airport on the same day, and directly print the boarding passes for the two flights. Passengers do not need a second check-in or security check during the boarding process. After arriving at Tianfu Airport, they can go directly to the boarding gate of the next flight and enjoy the fast transfer experience of “boarding gate to boarding gate”. At the same time, checked luggage can also be checked directly to the terminal. When transiting at Tianfu Airport, passengers do not need to pick up and check luggage again, avoiding the trouble of running around with luggage. In addition, passengers who choose the “Haitian Infinity” flight combination transiting through Tianfu Airport can also enjoy a 20% discount in economy class fares, which is more favorable than purchasing direct flights or purchasing two transit flights separately. There are several other airports across the country that provide similar convenient transit services.
With the support of the Civil Aviation Southwest Regional Administration and the Civil Aviation Sichuan Safety Supervision Bureau, Tianfu Airport jointly created the “Tianfu Transfer” transfer party building brand with the purpose of promoting service companies and airlines from all over the world to jointly carry out cross-airline transfer guarantees at Tianfu Airport.
“Haitian Unlimited” is a series of transit connecting products launched by Hainan Airlines Group, which are widely praised by passengers. It covers the route network of 12 airlines under HNA Group, including Hainan Airlines, Capital Airlines, Tianjin Airlines, Lucky Air, West Air, Beibu Gulf Airlines, Fuzhou Airlines, Urumqi Air, Changan Airlines, Guilin Airlines, Suparna Airlines, Grand China Air etc. Passengers can choose any flight from 12 airline companies to form a transit combination. There are many flight options and a wide route network coverage. It can easily reach more than 150 cities and extend to popular tourist areas such as Yunnan, Tibet, and Xinjiang. On November 9 last year, Tianfu Airport officially launched the “Haitian Infinity” transfer product to further improve service quality and passenger travel experience.
Hangzhou Xiaoshan Airport has launched the “Zheli Transit” transfer service, and set up a call point for transfer passengers at the end of the corridor bridge near the aircraft. After disembarking, the transfer passengers can directly check in at the boarding gate corresponding to the corridor bridge and enter the departure hall. The checked baggage is transferred by the airport in the background, truly realizing the convenient “door-to-door” transfer.
In addition to optimizing luggage services and shortening the transit time of passengers in the terminal building, transit airports can now also meet the needs of passengers during their stay at transit airports. At Changsha Huanghua Airport, transit passengers whose flight transit stays between 2 hours and 24 hours scan the corresponding QR code and apply for a catering discount coupon worth 40 yuan through the WeChat applet. A similar “sweeping wool” service is also available at Chengdu Tianfu Airport. The reporter learned that at present, Tianfu Airport has launched an electronic one-click collection of domestic transit passenger benefits, providing transit passengers with warm services in terms of catering, shopping, and leisure. Tianfu Airport said that in the future, the airport will cooperate with airline companies to further optimize through flight products, expand the scope of transit convenience services, and improve passengers’ transit experience at Tianfu Airport with more scientific network planning and high-quality service guarantee.