Hainan Airlines set to land on Changi

Sixth Chinese carrier at Changi taps 20% passenger traffic growth between Singapore and China to 1.7mln.

Changi Airport Group looks forward to welcoming another Chinese carrier to Changi’s network of airlines. Hainan Airlines will arrive at Changi’s Terminal 2 on 29 August 2010. The sixth Chinese carrier at Changi, Hainan Airlines will operate four weekly flights on a B737-800 aircraft connecting Singapore (SIN) to Hefei (HFE) and onwards to Dalian (DLC), according to a Changi report.

Hefei will be a new city link for Changi Airport and brings to four the number of new city links to China established this year, following Jinan, Shantou and Qingdao. Hefei is the capital of Anhui province. The political, economic and cultural centre of Anhui province, the city of Hefei is located in mid-east China, some 400 kilometres west of Shanghai. With the addition of Hainan Airlines, Changi Airport will be connected to China via some 400 weekly scheduled flights to more than 25 Chinese cities, reinforcing Singapore’s position as the most connected Southeast Asian city to China.

Total passenger traffic between Singapore and China crossed 2.9 million in 2009 and in the first six months of this year, grew by more than 20% to 1.7 million, a figure higher than pre-recession levels.

Changi Airport Group’s Director, Market Development, Lim Ching Kiat, said, “We warmly welcome Hainan Airlines to Changi Airport. Passenger traffic between Singapore and China has been strong through the years and China is one of Changi’s top five markets. We believe there is immense potential for traffic between Singapore and China to grow further with Hainan Airlines’ new flights.”