"We attach high importance to service quality and plan to focus more on enhancing our overall skills so that we can become a world-class carrier," Pang said.
China Southern carried more than 91.8 million passengers in 2013. It was ranked the best airline in Asia after passenger traffic increased 6.1 percent from 2012. Freight traffic in 2013 was 1.28 million metric tons, a year-on-year growth of 3.6 percent. The carrier also boasts the best safety record among Chinese airlines, with no major accidents in the past 235 months. By the end of 2013, the airline had recorded 11.8 million safe flying hours.
The company has expanded its overseas market and added direct flights between Guangzhou and Russia last year. It is planning more flights between the provincial capital of Guangdong and other countries, including Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain and Canada.
Pang said his company now has more than 40 international air routes and, by cooperating with Sky Team Alliance members, it has built an airline network connecting 187 countries and regions. In addition, the company also employs more than 150 foreign crew, 20 of them from the Netherlands.
Pang said Amsterdam has also been growing in line with the company's growth and expansion. In 1996, when the office was launched, there were only two flights every week between Amsterdam and Beijing and Guangzhou. Now, there are two flights a day. Every week, there are 12 to 14 cargo flights from Amsterdam to China.
"A very significant development is that we have entered into a close partnership with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines," he said.
Apart from Amsterdam, Pang said China Southern is banking on its Paris and London offices to shore up growth in Europe. The two offices have also contributed to sending more Europeans to China and Oceania through the London-Guangzhou, Paris-Guangzhou lines.
Pang, however, did not reveal any actual passenger numbers for these flights.
To further expand its operations, Pang said his company is planning to launch a new route from Guangzhou via Changsha to Frankfurt this year.
"In Amsterdam, we have done quite well, and, last year, Schiphol airport named us best performer among all Asian carriers," he said. "This is certainly better than the 2012 accolade, which listed us as the carrier with most potential."
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