Hainan Airlines Boosts International Offering

Chinese carrier Hainan Airlines has revealed plans to expand its network in Asia and the Indian sub-continent with new flights to Thailand, India and Sri Lanka. The carrier will introduce a link from Shenzhen to Mumbai, only its second route in India, as an extension of its existing Shanghai Pu Dong – Shenzhen service from September 18 and a Beijing – Bangkok – Colombo link from October 18.

The addition of Mumbai to its network marks a strategic expansion into the Indian sub-continent. The airline inaugurated a three times weekly flight between Shenzhen and Calcutta in July and is planning to add further flights into India. The Shenzhen – Mumbai route will be flown twice every week and Hainan Airlines will be the sole operator between the two destinations.

An estimated 539,000 O&D passengers flew between China and India, up a massive 21.4 per cent on the previous 12 months, due in part to an increase in air connectivity. Around 70,000 O&D passengers are believed to have travelled between Shanghai (the origin of the new Hainan Airlines flight) and Mumbai during the last year, the majority on the direct (but not non-stop) service from Air India.

A month later on October 18, Hainan Airlines will introduce a four times weekly service from Beijing to Bangkok and on to Colombo in Sri Lanka. This exact route is also flown by SriLankan Airlines on a three times weekly basis using an A330, while China Eastern Airlines offers the only non-stop link to Colombo from China with a five times weekly flight Kunming. An estimated 67,000 O&D passengers flew between Sri Lanka and China in the past year, a 69.0 per cent increase on the previous 12 month period.

Meanwhile, the route marks the fifth Hainan Airlines link between China and Thailand and third to the capital Bangkok. The airline already offers links to Bangkok Suvarnabhumi International from Hangzhou and Nanning, while Phuket is served from Beijing Capital International and Hangzhou. More than 2.52 million O&D passengers travelled between the two countries in the past year with Hainan Airlines accounting for just 3.4 per cent of this traffic.

Schedule:

Shanghai Pu Dong – Shenzhen - Mumbai
HU7997 PVG1850 – 2110SZX2230 – 0200+1BOM 738 26 20SEP11 -
HU7998 BOM0305 – 1130SZX1340 – 1600PVG 738 37 21SEP11 -

Beijing – Bangkok - Colombo
HU7995 PEK1010 – 1425BKK1540 – 1720CMB 738 x357 18OCT11 -
HU7996 CMB1900 – 2345BKK0100+1 – 0645+1PEK 738 x357 18OCT11 -