Today, Hainan Airlines announced they will begin service to Vancouver International Airport / Aéroport international de Vancouver (YVR) from Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport (SZX), via Tianjin Binhai International Airport (TSN). The twice-weekly service will commence starting May 25, 2018.
“It’s great to start the year with the announcement of a new airline partner. As the first airport in Canada offering service to Shenzhen and Tianjin, the route will provide direct access to new markets for business travellers and offer more options for leisure travellers exploring China,” said Craig Richmond, President & CEO, Vancouver Airport Authority. “The addition of Hainan Airlines brings the total of Mainland Chinese carriers to seven plus Air Canada, further strengthening YVR’s position as the connecting hub airport between Asia and the Americas.”
Headquartered in Haikou, Hainan Airlines has received the Skytrax 5-Star Airline Rating for seven consecutive years and continually ranks as one of the World’s Best Airlines. The airline’s network includes more than 1,400 international and domestic routes to over 110 destinations.
“We are delighted to announce this new service from Shenzhen to Vancouver via Tianjin at the beginning of the China-Canada Tourism Year,” said Jichun Liu, Vice President of Hainan Airlines. “Following our Toronto-Beijing and Calgary-Beijing routes, this new Vancouver service demonstrates Hainan Airlines' confidence in the China-Canada civil aviation market. The new route will provide passengers with more travel options and convenience. It will also further strengthen the economic, educational and cultural exchanges between the two countries.”
The route will be operated using an Airbus 330 with a seat configuration of 32 Business class and 260 Economy class seats. Hainan Airlines will depart from YVR at 11:30 and arrive at TSN at 14:15 (+1), before continuing the journey. The flight arrives at SZX at 19:45.
New services such as this are made possible thanks to YVR’s five-year airline rates and charges program, ConnectYVR. The program offers some of the lowest landing fees to airlines in order to attract and incent them to grow sustainably at YVR.