China Exclusive: China pivotal to Delta's global strategy and growth

China's international travel demand is booming, travelers needs are changing, and Delta Air Lines is committed to further exploring what will soon be the largest overseas market for the U.S. aviation industry, said a Delta executive.

"China has changed rapidly in very good ways over the past decade, with changes over the past ten years in China equal to what we have seen over five decades in many other parts of the world," Vinay Dube, senior vice president of the carrier, said in a recent interview with Xinhua in Beijing.

In the trans-Pacific aviation market, business travel has risen over the past ten years in tandem with GDP growth and bilateral trade between China and the United States, while student and tourist travel between the world's two largest economies has also grown significantly as the middle class in China has increased, said Dube.

Headquartered in Atlanta, Delta employs more than 80,000 people worldwide and operates a mainline fleet of more than 800 aircraft, serving about 180 million customers each year. A founding member of the SkyTeam global alliance, Delta and the Delta Connection carriers offer services to more than 300 destinations in 54 countries.

Inbound tourist traffic from the United States to Beijing, Shanghai, Kunming and hundreds of other Chinese cities has resulted in huge aviation demand, Dube observed.

"Ten years ago, Chinese travelers were more focused on the price of tickets," said Dube, adding that Chinese now care more about the in-flight experience such as food and customer service, as well as the tradeoff between saving money and a reasonable itinerary.

With China likely to surpass the United Kingdom as the largest overseas aviation market for U.S. carriers in the coming years, Delta strives to be "reliable, thoughtful and innovative," and aims to become the "most Chinese-friendly airline among non-Chinese airlines," Dube said.

He cited a string of services launched for the Chinese market, including an official WeChat account, payment options like Alipay and China UnionPay, Chinese meal choices, Chinese movies and movies with Chinese subtitles or translated into Chinese, and Chinese-speaking flight attendants.

"Chinese customers have different expectations, and we want to make sure we are addressing them," said Dube, who is in charge of Delta Asia Pacific region operations.

The number of travelers from China to the United States is predicted to exceed those from the United Kingdom in 2021, according to data from the U.S. Department of Commerce.

As the most reliable international carrier from the United States, Delta is working toward providing easy connections for Chinese customers and investing in maintenance and staff, evidence of its long-term commitment to the Chinese market, Dube said.

"China is important to Delta's overall global strategy, not just our regional strategy," stressed Dube.

Delta has increased the number of nonstop flights between China and the United States since 2009. It currently operates daily nonstop flights from Beijing to Seattle and Detroit and from Shanghai to Seattle, Detroit and Los Angeles. There are 56 Delta flights from four airports in the greater China region.

"We want to improve cooperation with each of our existing partners in China -- we cannot serve China without our partners," he said.

Delta's partners in China include China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines, Shanghai Airlines and Xiamen Airlines. In 2015, Delta acquired a 3.55 percent stake in China Eastern Airlines. Endi