China’s largest privately owned & managed airline, Hainan Airlines, submitted request with Israel’s Civil Aviation Authority to run 3 weekly direct flights between Beijing & Ben-Gurion Int’l Airport
• Flights scheduled for Tuesdays, Thursdays & Saturdays.
The flights will operate on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, days on which Israel’s El Al Airlines does not operate flights on the Tel Aviv-Beijing route.
The move by Hainan Airlines, China’s fourth-largest airline overall and largest privately owned one, to launch a Tel Aviv-Beijing route is the result of efforts by Tourism Minister Uzi Landau, Tourism Ministry Director-General Amir Halevy and Israeli Ambassador to China Matan Vilnai.
Over the past year, Israeli officials highlighted to Hainan Airlines officials the economic viability of operating regular flights between Beijing and Ben-Gurion International Airport. Until now, only El Al has operated flights on this route.
Hainan Airlines is one of the eight airlines in the world rated as five-star by Skytrax.
View original Israel Hayom publication at: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=22757