The number of air travelers increased by 20 percent from a year earlier to reach 151 million in the first eight months, according to the bureau's statistics.

"Our business in October was good, and November will see surging turnover as international travelers prepare for Christmas. As for December, a traditionally lean month, we've chalked up countermeasures in advance," said Kong.

"So, this is certainly going to be a better-than-expected year to celebrate."

A graduate of mechanical engineering, Kong has decades-long experience in the aviation utility sector. When he took over as chairman of Air China last April, the technocrat turned heads by doing things differently from the aviation industry practice - answering letters of complaint, learning risk-management and preaching best practices.

Through its quality service and being the exclusive carrier to Chinese leaders on their overseas trips, Air China has become a reliable brand for millions of travelers. But Kong said: "If Air China wants to further differentiate itself from others, it needs to improve service quality."

That explains why Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd, Air China's Hong Kong partner, is high on Kong's mind.

"Cathay Pacific is a model for Air China to learn from," Kong said. "We have started an exchange program (with Cathay) to train our employees in a variety of aspects, including service, marketing, finance and personnel management."

Realizing Air China's disparity with the world's major air powers, the company has set a goal of developing Air China as one of the global top 10 air businesses in terms of comprehensive strength by the year of 2015, said Kong.

Air China hopes it will be flying high based on its global aviation hub in Beijing, supplemented by its presence in other key cities, company sources said.

It opened a subsidiary in Shanghai earlier this year to strengthen its foothold in the international air traffic center, and launched a Hubei subsidiary this May.

(China Daily October 28, 2009)