Stockton Metropolitan Airport’s has signed a cooperation agreement with Chengdu Shuangliu Airport, China's fourth largest flight center, a small step toward establishing air connections between the two.
The one-page statement signed by officials of the two airports earlier this month simply pledges “they will explore together opportunities to connect the two airports with passenger, cargo and charter services.” That work will involve sharing information about the two airports with prospective airlines.
“This is just the beginning,” said Harry Mavrogenes, Stockton airport director. “The Chinese are very formal. They like to do these kinds of things.”
Mavrogenes signed the agreement Aug. 22 in Santa Clara in a meeting with officials from Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province. It was hosted by China Silicon Valley, a nonprofit organization trying to build relationships with the major manufacturing regions in China.
He said Chinese officials became interested in Stockton Metro through a Chinese-language brochure about the airport distributed in China Silicon Valley.
“They are a region that is growing. They want to expand,” Mavrogenes said Friday. “From a business perspective, we have some of the best ground transportation logistics in the country … Being a fantastic location for ground transport, the next logical step is air transport.”
From Stockton Metro’s perspective, the agreement gives it more ammunition in its current bid to establish a customs inspection station that would allow the airport to accommodate international flights. While its initial focus is on providing passenger service to Mexico, China also provides great opportunities, Mavrogenes said.
“Where is air travel, where is air cargo, where are those businesses growing the most? It’s China,” he said. “It’s a logical market for us to try to tap.”
There is a bit of a mismatch between the two airports.
According to news reports, Chengdu Shuangliu is served by dozens of airlines and accommodated more than 37 million passengers last year. Stockton Metropolitan Airport has one airline and tallied more than 72,000 passengers through its boarding gate in 2014.
Chengdu is close to due west of Stockton, nearly 6,900 miles away by the shortest air route, Google Maps estimates.
Mavrogenes, who alerted San Joaquin County supervisors to his intent to meet with the Chengdu delegation, said he will seek their formal backing for the cooperation agreement.
“It’s a great opportunity,” he said. “I want to make sure … they say, ‘Yes, this is a policy we support.’”
Original article can be found here: http://www.recordnet.com
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