Shanghai, China: With its business growing at a rapid pace, Foreign Airlines Service Corp took time out to thanks it ever-expanding customer base by hosting the inaugural 2003 FASCO Golf Invitational at Shanghai Silport.

Playing under cool but sunny conditions over Silport’s East and Center course layouts, Xia Xing Hua, director of the China Aviation southeast administration, shot 40-41 for a solid nine-over-par 81 and the low gross honor.

Shinichi Tajima, Japan Airlines vice president and district manager in Shanghai, won the low nett honor when the 15.6 handicap carded an 89 for a nett 73.4. He also won one of the two long drive holes.

Hong Ye, Shanghai FASCO’s general manager, said the tournament was an important exercise to raise the company’s profile among its high-end customer base. Among the airlines competing in the invitational were executives from such carriers as Northwest Airlines, Malaysian Airlines Systems, Air Nippon, Japan Airlines, Dragonair, Cathay Pacific and Air Macau.

Among the dignitaries participating were Wong Da-peng of Dragonair and Li Haizhi, Shanghai FASCO’s party secretary and deputy general manager.

“According to our research, golf club members are quite similar to frequent flyers on the airlines, this area is overlapping,” Ye said. “As many foreign airlines are coming to Shanghai, we thought that in holding this golf invitational it would help us to arouse greater attention (toward our business) from these customers.”

Under the FASCO banner are companies as an employment agency providing Chinese staff to foreign carriers, a ticketing agency that can represent any foreign carrier, a travel agency, a ground-handling agency which primarily deals with private charters and a three-star hotel, among others.

All told, the company works with 41 carriers in the China market.
As aviation in China had mounted a strong comeback in the latter half of 2003 after being hit hard when SARS decimated the country, Ye was confident FASCO would realize a 10 to 20 percent increase in its ticketing business and virtually zero growth on its travel agency on the year.

“Most of the increases shown have been in our ground-handling business. As the economic development continues all over China, our cargo business will increase much more significantly than our passenger side,” Ye said.

“The new deepwater port will be finished within the next few years and Shanghai will become the most important hub for cargo in Asia. We are totally confident for 2004.