OIA pushes for direct flights to China

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Orlando is pushing hard for a direct flight to China.

It has been a very long process to try and make a deal, but billions of dollars would pour into Central Florida through a Chinese connection.

Several weeks ago, Channel 9 reported that an influx of Chinese buyers buying some 50 percent of new houses for vacation rentals in Osceola County.

It's a market, Orlando International airport officials long knew was coming.

"Orlando is the top un-saved market in the continental United States without service to China,” said Victoria Jaramillo of the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority.

China is very attractive for Orlando.

The cities of Beijing and Shanghai have more people than all of Canada.

A direct flight, airport officials said, would bring in hundreds of millions of dollars a year.

But the decision is largely up to the Chinese government, which caps the number of flights Chinese carriers have into U.S. cities.

“Because that cap is what we're all hitting. It's what we're all restricted with,” said Jaramillo.

That's a conversation that needs to happen between leaders in Washington and Beijing.

State and local tourism officials, as well as the airport, have spent years trying to keep Orlando top of mind.

But China needs to be convinced the City Beautiful is more than theme parks; it needs to be attractive for business too.

The airport needs more local private companies, like Disney, or SpaceX, to say they do enough business with China to fill planes.

"With the medical city, with technology, all the things going on with the space industry, there are a lot of opportunities to do business,” Phil Brown, said GOAA executive director.

Orlando would have to compete with Miami, but Orlando already does 63 percent more Chinese traffic than South Florida.

“We're the top market that doesn't have direct non-stop service from China. Every other market in the U.S. has been served,” said Brown

The GOAA is compiling new data as to which Central Florida businesses work with China or Southeast Asia.

Cox Media Group