Chinese airline brands soar, while US airlines sink

Chinese airline brand values are taking off as they expand abroad while their US counterparts' brand values are dropping, according to the latest report by Brand Finance, the world's leading independent brand valuation and strategy consultancy.

China Southern remains the Chinese brand leader, with brand value up 10 percent to $4.1 billion, ahead of China Eastern and Air China with $3.8 billion and $3.4 billion respectively.

The 21 percent growth rate of China Eastern's brand value topped the three Chinese airlines, while Air China's brand value witnessed a 19 percent increase.

One the contrary, all American airlines' brand values fell, even though they took four top-five spots on the top 10 list of the most valuable airline brands.

American Airlines, the world's most valuable airline brand, experienced a 7 percent decrease to $9.1 billion in brand value. Second-ranked Delta was down 6 percent to $8.7 billion and third-ranked United Airlines was down 2 percent to $7 billion. Fifth-ranked Southwest fell the most, dropping 12 percent to $5.3 billion.

"In the airline market, customers are making decisions about brands on a very narrow range of factors: price, routing and schedules. The Chinese brands are the big winners in this area, as they have been able to grow their brands by giving customers greater confidence in their dependability and safety as they grow alongside the Chinese economy," said David Haigh, CEO of Brand Finance.

The report also revealed the global airline business is moving eastward, as British Airways was also down 6 percent to $3.5 billion, falling to 8th place in the ranking behind two Chinese brands, and only narrowly ahead of Air China.