The Chinese government likes to make neat plans. One of the neatest is the policy of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) that the country should have three major state airlines, based widely apart, and that each should turn its home airport into its single major hub. One problem is that not all hubs are created equal. The major Chinese airline with the weakest base geography, China Southern at Guangzhou, is determined to build a major hub at Beijing, home of rival Air China. Another problem is that, for one reason or another, neither of the other two big carriers is satisfied with its excellent home market. China Eastern, based at Shanghai, the country's largest city, rather fancies building up at Beijing, too. And Air China, though ensconced in the city that its rivals covet, is putting resources into Shanghai.
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