Passengers get off a plane painted with patterns of the China International Consumer Products Expo at Meilan International Airport in Haikou, south China’s Hainan Province, March 13, 2022. (Xinhua/Zhang Liyun)
China Southern Airlines said recently that it will tap into the language training business, part of the airline’s move to expand its business scope, which also reached into internet retail business and online travel services.
China Southern said its training center plans to launch both online and offline Japanese and French language training courses from July this year, in addition to launching an aviation summer camp for school children.
Face-to-face classes for basic French pronunciation is priced at 800 yuan ($119) for 20 teaching hours for small classes with 25 students, according to China Southern Training’s WeChat account on June 14.
Hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, the finances of many airlines are in dire straits, inflamed by weak market demand and reduced flight numbers, leading airlines to seek out innovative ways to generate more income to survive.
Since the early days of the pandemic in 2020, the chairman of Spring Airlines has promoted their air tickets and fuselage advertisements through livestreaming, China Eastern launched ticket packages, Sichuan Airlines has sold takeaway hot pot, and China Express Airlines started selling fruit and agricultural products via its WeChat account.
Meanwhile, China Southern set up a cross border e-commerce company in December of 2020, and Xiamen Airlines launched a group meal delivery services.
Airlines have been working hard to broaden their sources of revenues, but compared with the billions of yuan in losses linked to sharply reduced fights, income from live broadcasts, takeaways, and training courses is very limited.
Data from Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) revealed the country’s aviation industry lost 84.25 billion yuan last year, a decrease of 18.71 billion yuan over the previous…
