Twenty-one Airlines to Receive 433 Million Yuan in Subsidies for Their Regional Flights This Year

In early August, the CAAC released the 2013 Budget Plan for Regional Aviation Subsidy. According to the plan, twenty-one airlines will receive 433 million yuan in subsidies for their regional flight operations by the end of this year.

Of the twenty-one airlines, China Eastern Airlines (MU), China Southern Airlines (CZ) and Tianjin Airlines are the three who will receive the most subsidies this year. China Eastern Airlines (MU) will get the highest subsidy of 110 million Yuan, followed by 98.52 million Yuan for China Southern Airlines (CZ) and 58.77 million Yuan for Tianjin Airlines (GS). Besides these companies, the following airline companies that will also receive a subsidy of more than 10 million Yuan are Air China (CA), Sichuan Airlines (3U), Tibet Airlines (TV) and Lucky Air (8L). The airline that received the least assistance was China Flying Dragon Aviation, which received only 120,000 Yuan in subsidies.

Some have questioned why China's three state-owned airlines which have already clearly positioned themselves carriers with international hub networks get so many subsidies. Industry insiders revealed that the answer comes from their past merger and acquisition history. More than half of Air China's subsidies are to support its Tibet routes and over 80% come from the Southwest Regional Administration of CAAC, due to the fact that China Southwest Airlines was merged into Air China in the Reform of the Civil Aviation System 11 years ago. In addition, more than 50% of China Eastern's subsidies are from the Southwest Regional Administration of CAAC to fund its non-Tibet routes, while nearly 40% of China Southern's subsidies are from the Xinjiang Regional Administration of CAAC, due to two companies’ mergers with the former Yunnan Airlines and Xinjiang Airlines, respectively.

Excluding Hainan Airlines, Okay Airways, Chengdu Airlines and Tianjin Airlines, subsidies to medium and small airlines mainly originate from the region where their headquarters lie. 2.02 million Yuan of the total 3.38 million Yuan subsidies to Hainan Airlines are from the CAAC Xinjiang Regional Administration; the subsidy of 7.08 million Yuan granted to OK Airways comes completely from the CAAC Northeast Regional Administration; both of the subsidies totaling 770 thousand Yuan granted to Chengdu Airlines are from the CAAC East China Regional Administration; Subsidies from the CAAC North China Regional Administration, the Northwest Regional Administration of China, and the CAAC Xinjiang Regional Administration to Tianjin Airlines alone are all summed up to be over 10 million Yuan.

民航局8月初发布了《关于2013年支线航空补贴预算方案的公示》。该方案显示，21家航空公司年内将获得4.33亿元支线补贴。

方案显示，东航、南航和天津航是获得支线补贴最多的3家航空公司。其中，东航将获得超过1.1亿元的补贴，是唯一补贴过亿的航空公司，南航补贴则接近1亿元，为9852万元。三大航中的国航仅获得4271万元补贴，被获得5877万元补贴的天津航抢去补贴排行榜第三的宝座。支线补贴金额超过1000万元的除了这4家航空公司外，还包括川航（4002万元）、西藏航（2225万元）和祥鹏航（1218万元）。获得补贴最少的为中国飞龙航空公司，其补贴额为12万元。

作为早已明确自身定位为国际枢纽网络型航空公司的三大航，为何会获得如此多的支线补贴，答案来自于其过去的历史——国航补贴的半数以上为西藏航线，80%以上来自于民航西南地区，而其在11年前的民航体制改革中吸收合并了西南航；东航、南航也是一样，东航超过50%的补贴来自民航西南局的非西藏航线补贴，南航也有近40%的补贴来自于民航新疆管理局，其分别对应其早前合并的云南航与新疆航。

绝大多数中小航空公司获得的支线补贴主要来源于其总部所处区域，但海航、奥凯航、成都航、天津航除外。海航获得338万元补贴中的202万元来自新疆地区，奥凯航的708万补贴全部来自于东北地区，成都航的77万补贴则从华东地区得来，天津航在华北、西北、新疆地区获得的补贴都超过了1000万元。