Ordinary Gweilo

Hong Kong and Britain have agreed to end all restrictions on passenger and cargo services between the two destinations in the most liberal air services agreement ever signed by the SAR.

Not quite as liberal as it may sound, because it doesn’t actually open up the route to all-comers. Oh, no! Instead we are promised some extra ‘code-sharing’:

The pact also grants Hong Kong and British airlines codeshare rights that could see British Airways codesharing on Cathay flights to Asia and elsewhere. It would also allow Virgin to codeshare with Dragonair once Hong Kong’s No2 airline secures rights to Sydney. Virgin has an interlining* agreement with Dragonair.

Code-sharing is a nasty trick played by airlines on unsuspecting customers. You book a flight on Cathay Pacific and then when you turn up at the airport you find that the flight is being operated by Air Bangladesh, and, I’m sorry sir, but unfortunately that means you won’t be getting any Asia Miles.

* I thought interlining was something you used to make a shirt? What is an interlining agreement?

I am not aware of any benefit to customers from code-sharing, but I guess it sounds good to the accountants. Airline “alliances” are almost equally worthless – yes, I know that you can theoretically earn more miles and have a wider choice of lounges if you qualify for that sort of thing, but real competition between the airlines would be much better for passengers.

Yes, there is some benefit to customers from increased competion on the Hong Kong to Sydney route, especially as Virgin isn’t part of either of the large alliances, but I don’t suppose it’ll make that much difference.

I’m not quite sure why, but I still choose to fly Virgin from Hong Kong to London even though the quality of service is very variable. I suppose the reason is that I see BA and Cathay as monolithic corporations whereas Virgin is relatively small and does seem to care about its customers.

Perhaps one reason is that my very first trip to Hong Kong was in Virgin’s Upper Class, which was quite an experience for me at the time (limousines to take you to and from the airport at both ends, decent food, etc.) whereas a later trip in Cathay’s business class was quite disappointing. Since then Cathay and BA have probably moved ahead of Virgin as far as seats are concerned, though I don’t think they offer the full limousine service at both ends. Sadly, after those two trips several years ago I haven’t been able to persuade anyone to pay for me to travel business class again!

I have to admit that I still admire Richard Branson – I know he’s done some dodgy things in his time, but he seems to be a real entrepreneur who is willing to have a go. The amazing thing is that after all these years he can still get publicity for his new ventures (even if he does have to take his clothes off or put on a wedding dress). His autobiography and the companion volume by Tom Bower are both worth reading, and taken together they give a fairly balanced account of his life and career.

More on the new agreement here.