China Eastern has no plans to cut Beijing-Shanghai capacity despite high-speed rail threat

China Eastern Airlines stated it expects fares on the soon to be launch Beijing-Shanghai high-speed rail to be set at approximately CNY600 adding it has no plans to cut the carrier's capacity on the lucrative sector (Morning News, 24-May-2011). China Eastern and its Shanghai Airlines has the largest market share on the sector with 55 weekly flights between them and is one of the carrier's most profitable routes. The average load factor on the sector in the first four months of 2011 was 95%. The Beijing-Shanghai high-speed rail link commenced its one-month long trial operations on 11-May-2011 and is scheduled to officially open in Jun-2011.