CONTROL of the world's aviation hubs is so thoroughly locked up
that the possibility one of them might be up for grabs is almost
inconceivable. Hence the excitement when a fight broke out over
access to Shanghai, before coming abruptly to a halt on
September 24th.  It is hard to overstate Shanghai's
attractiveness to airlines. The number of passengers handled by
the city's two airports, Pudong and Hongqiao, has increased by
more than 20% a year for five years, compared with single-digit
growth at most of the world's big airports. Companies'
operations in China require personal attention, so as business
expands westward from the coastal cities, demand for easy access
by air will only increase.  The dominant airline in Shanghai,
with a market share of 37%, is China Eastern Airlines. Barely
profitable, poorly managed and in need of investment, it has
been in talks for more than a year with Singapore Airlines, one
of the world's best airlines. China Eastern's share price began
to move up sharply in May and nearly