zhangwei20100816084212.jpg (Photo : caacnews.com.cn)
Hainan Airlines, the largest privately-owned airline company in China, announced plans to start serving direct flights between Beijing and Boston beginning on the middle of 2014.
The direct Beijing-Boston flights will start on June 20 and will be available four times weekly - Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.
Boston will become the fourth North American city that Hainan flies too. The Chinese airline currently serves Toronto, Seattle, and Chicago.
Hainan Airlines, the fourth largest airline in China in terms of fleet size, services 500 international and domestic flights from Hainan and nine other locations on the mainland.
Last September, Hainan Airlines launched its inaugural flight to Chicago from Beijing through an Airbus 340.
Hainan's US flights will serve as important bridge that links China and the US, said Consul General in Chicago Zhao Weiping. The four China-US flights will bring more Chinese tourists to the US Midwest and will bring more American tourists to China, he added.
The airline plans to deploy Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft on its North American routes in order to increase the frequency of its US services, the company said.
Hainan Airlines got its first Boeing 787 Dreamline airplane in July as part of its order of 10 Dreamliners. The airline ordered the Dreamliners in order to give its global passengers five-star, Chinese-style in-flight experience.
In 2011, the Chinese airline was named as one of the the top five safest airlines around the world due to its record of zero death or aircraft losses in its 20 years of service.
The airline joined All Nippon Airways, Finnair, Etihad Airways, and Cathay Pacific as the world's top five safest airlines last year.
