爲何韓亞失事航班上中國乘客衆多

Seoul has become an important transit gateway for many Chinese travelers connecting to cities in the U.S. and Canada. The reason? Passengers are lured by attractive prices and a dearth of transpacific nonstop flights from China.

對許多前往美國和加拿大城市的中國旅客來說，首爾已經成了一個重要的中轉站，原因何在？這既是因爲乘客們受到了有吸引力的機票價格的誘惑，也是因爲從中國到北美的直達航班數量不足。

This helps explain why nearly half, or 141, of the 291 passengers aboard an Asiana AirLines flight from Seoul that crashed at the San Francisco airport were Chinese nationals. Both passengers killed on Saturday's flight were female Chinese nationals, according to the South Korean Foreign Ministry.

這有助於解釋韓亞航空(Asiana Airlines)那架在舊金山失事的班機上全部291名乘客中爲何有近一半（141人）是中國人。據韓國外交部說，上週六發生的這起事故中喪生的兩名乘客都是中國女性。

For decades, the South Korean capital has played a key role for passenger travel between Asia and North America Korean Air Lines Co., the nation's biggest carrier, has for years offered flights to more cities in North America than any other Asian airline, and that remains the case, while Northwest Airlines, which in 2010 merged with Delta Air Lines Inc., operated a major hub out of Seoul until the early 1990s.

幾十年來，首爾一直在亞洲和北美間的空中交通方面扮演着重要角色。韓國最大航空公司大韓航空(Korean Air Lines Co.)在北美的航班目的地多年來一直比任何其他的亞洲航空公司都多，目前依然是這種情況。而在2010年與達美航空公司(Delta Air Lines Inc.)合併的美國西北航空公司(Northwest Airlines)從上世紀90年代初起就將首爾作爲了自己的一個主要航空樞紐。

But competition for passengers has intensified as many of the region's airlines expanded their own flights across the Pacific. In China, however, despite surging demand for flights to North America, the nation's mainly state-owned airlines have been slow to add capacity, thus keeping fares higher. U.S.-China flights are also governed by a highly regulated bilateral treaty, making it less flexible for airlines to increase services as needed.

但隨着亞洲地區的許多航空公司紛紛增加往返太平洋兩岸的航班，各航空公司爭奪客源的競爭也愈演愈烈。但在中國，儘管市場對北美航線的航班需求大幅增長，但中國幾大國有航空公司在增加飛行運力方面卻一直行動遲緩，因此機票價格不斷上漲。美中航班數量還受到了兩國間一個受到高度監管的雙邊協議的限制，這一協議降低了航空公司爲滿足市場需要而增加航班數量方面的靈活性。

Transpacific nonstop flights from China mainly originate from Beijing or Shanghai. There is also limited service from the southern city of Guangzhou. This means passengers elsewhere must travel through one of these cities to get to North America.

中國飛往北美的跨太平洋直達航班主要從北京或上海出發。南方城市廣州與北美間也有數量不多的幾趟直達航班。這意味着中國其他地方的人要想前往北美，必須前往上述這幾座城市搭乘飛機。

Airlines in South Korea and Japan significantly boosted their Chinese services in the last few years, in part to cater to the rising demand of transit passenger traffic. Korean Air now flies to some 22 mainland Chinese cities from its Seoul hub, while Asiana operates to 21 Chinese cities, being two of the biggest foreign airlines operating in the country. Meanwhile Japan Airlines flies to 15 mainland Chinese cities.

過去幾年中，韓國和日本的航空公司大幅增加了飛中國的航班數量，這一定程度上意在滿足過境旅客數量不斷增長帶來的需求。大韓航空目前在首爾與中國大陸約22個城市間開通了航班，韓亞航空在韓國與中國21個城市間有航班服務，這兩家公司的中國業務規模在擁有在華業務的外國航空公司中都名列前茅。日本航空(Japan Airlines)有飛往中國大陸15個城市的航班。

The territorial spat between Japan and China has helped divert more China-originating transpacific traffic through South Korea, according to analysts. Passengers are also attracted by cheap prices offered by many of these airlines.

據分析人士說，日本與中國間的領土糾紛促使更多從中國前往北美的旅客轉而經由韓國進行中轉。許多韓國航空公司提供的廉價機票也對乘客產生了吸引力。

To illustrate, roundtrip economy fares between Shanghai and San Francisco sell for as low as 4,800 yuan on Asiana Airlines' website, while a nonstop flight on state-owned China Eastern Airlines Corp. could cost around 7,600 yuan, according to the China Eastern website.

舉例來說，在韓亞航空公司的網站上，最低可以只花人民幣4,800元就能買到上海與舊金山間的經濟艙往返機票，而中國國有的中國東方航空公司(China Eastern Airlines Corp.)的網站顯示，該公司上海與舊金山間直飛航班的機票價格可能達到人民幣7,600元左右。