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Bigger jet to be used on first ever Manchester-Beijing link to meet demand

Xinhua, February 8, 2016 Adjust font size:

Hainan Airlines delivered a New Year's Day gift to Manchester Airport Monday by announcing it is to use a larger jetliner on its upcoming direct link to Beijing.

The four-times a week service, for what will be the only direct flight between Britain and Beijing outside London, was scheduled to operate with an Airbus 330-200.

But the airline now plans to use a larger capacity Airbus 330-300 when the service starts in June. The larger aircraft can carry 292 passengers - 32 in business class and 260 in economy.

The new Beijing service was announced in October by President Xi Jinping, during his four day state visit to Britain.

Stephen Turner, Manchester Airport's commercial director said the Manchester to Beijing link will be worth 362 million U.S. dollars over the next 10 years to the British economy, two thirds of it to the local economy in terms of increased airport jobs, tourism and economic activity.

Turner commented: "Feedback from passengers tells us that people want to fly from their local airport and this new route allows them to do just that whether on business or leisure."

He said, as well as the economic impact of the new route, it will also generate journey time savings worth more than 7 million U.S. dollars every year for business passengers and avoid the inconvenience of changing planes at another airport.

Xie Haoming, chairman at Hainan Airlines said: "We are delighted to be able to increase the capacity on our flights to and from Manchester. It highlights just how committed Hainan Airlines is on making this route a success. After what has been an incredibly positive Chinese New Year, we are now all focussed on the route commencing in June. We look forward to welcoming passengers from the North and I am sure our Chinese passengers cannot wait to come and visit Manchester and the wider region." Endit