American Airlines has grown 30% in the Asian market in just
the past few years, according to vice president of alliances and partnerships
Joe Mohan.
But that growth will halt in the coming years.
"Now we view that as mature," Mahan said Tuesday
at the Capa Americas Aviation Summit in Orlando.
His comments came just a week after American announced plans
to invest $200 million in a 2.7% stake in China Southern Airlines.
As part of the deal, the two carriers expect to begin
codeshare and interline agreements later this year, with American flyers
gaining access to 70 destinations in the China Southern network beyond Beijing
and Shanghai.
Among the recent routes that American has added are Los
Angeles-Hong Kong and Dallas-Shanghai. Late last year, American also won the
right from the DOT to operate the last available service by a U.S. carrier into
Beijing under the existing U.S-China aviation agreement. However, the carrier
hasn't launched its planned Los Angeles-Beijing flight and accuses China of not
making the landing slot available. The DOT recently granted American six more
months to make use of the slot, for which Delta also applied.
Mohan said that Dallas and Los Angeles are successful Asia
gateways for American. But going forward, the carrier will lean on codeshare
partnerships with China Southern, Japan Airlines and Cathay Pacific for growth.
American won't fly to secondary Asian cities, he added -- a
step United has begun taking in China.