Many, many more people see the extraordinary work of both companies through audience development programmes, ticket pricing initiatives and digital and cinema distribution.
Beijing also increased the amount of revenue foreign movies are allowed to collect from distribution in China to 25% of overall ticket sales from the earlier limit of 13%.
American Airlines, owned by parent AMR Corporation, has picked up an antitrust battle against Sabre Holdings, a global distribution system that provides flight data to third-party ticket agents and websites, saying its business practices are anti-competitive and not in the interest of the consumer.
Local restrictions notwithstanding, GM doesn't want the additional cost of building a national distribution center until more people are comfortable with buying big-ticket items online.
Despite shrinking commissions in the form of distribution fees earned on air tickets, Expedia and other online travel agencies continue to focus on attracting air ticket bookings.