A mix of existing and new airline partners officially signed-up to serve the fast-expanding Chinese gateway during a behind closed doors meeting on the opening day of business at World Routes and it is our understanding that there is more news to follow, with at least one other airline set to announce its expansion into Chengdu in the coming days.
HNA Group’s airline operations are central to its expansion plans as it seeks investments to reach its goal of becoming a global top 50 company by 2030.
Latest figures from VisitBritain state that tourist numbers to the UK from China were up 37 percent in the first nine months of 2015 as more than 200,000 Chinese holidaymakers visited the UK in the nine month period. VisitBritain is hoping to double spending from Chinese visitors to £1 billion by 2020, - they were already among the highest spenders ringing up £2,688 a head and already account for almost a quarter of tourist spending in the UK.
A change of aircraft – Airbus 330-200 to A330-300 – will see an increased capacity on the Beijing - Manchester route, set to launch later this year. The new aircraft will be able to carry 292 passengers: 32 in Business Class and 260 in Economy.
Hainan Airlines filed an application with the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) in November last year for rights to introduce the first regular flight between China and Alberta. There are already direct links between Beijing and Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver; Guangzhou and Vancouver; Shanghai and Toronto and Vancouver and Shenyang and Vancouver.
China is Sydney Airport’s fastest growing inbound visitor market and this new link will bring even more Chinese visitors to Sydney and NSW, with associated tourism and economic benefits. Hainan Airlines will be the sixth Chinese mainland airline serving destinations across mainland China, making Sydney Airport the world’s leading airport for long-haul Chinese airlines.
The Manchester-Beijing route is reported to be worth at least £250 million in economic benefits to the UK over the next decade, with two-thirds being felt directly in the Northern economy in terms of increased jobs, economic activity and tourism. By providing a non-stop service, the new route will also generate journey time savings worth £5 million every year for business passengers and avoid the inconvenience of changing planes at another airport.
The new flights are operating twice weekly on Fridays and Mondays, between July 3, 2015 and August 28, 2015 and will carry almost 4,000 Chinese tourists into the UK on package tours and will contribute a forecasted £19 million to the regional economy. The flights will be operated by a 223-seat Boeing 767-300 configured with 32 Business Class and 191 Economy seats.
In partnership with our Airline Route blog, Routesonline is launching a new weekly 'Historic Airline Schedule Snapshot' as part of our Throwback Thursday series, where we look back at the historic flight operations of a current or defunct airline.
The new flights, which will operate twice weekly on Fridays and Mondays, between July 3, 2015 and August 28, 2015, will carry almost 4,000 Chinese tourists into the UK on package tours and will contribute a forecasted £19 million to the regional economy.
Every month Routesonline provides an update on the current schedules of five latest aircraft programmes, highlighting the routes the types are being deployed upon.
Apple Computer may soon get better flights to sell more iPhones in a China after Hainan Airlines filed an application for an exemption and ammended foreign air carrier permit with the US Department of Transportation to serve San Jose, California, which elicited wide smiles from San Jose International Airport's Olgierd Hinz at Routes Americas in Denver.
As United Airlines launches the longest Dreamliner route to date, here at Routesonline we decided to look at the top 10 longest and shortest Dreamliner routes in the world.
