The Massachusetts Port Authority reports that the currently named Hainan Airline Aviation Group has formally applied to the Civil Aviation Administration of China for permission to fly daily nonstops from Beijing to Boston using Boeing 787 aircraft.

The airline will, according to the Boston Business Journal be rebranded as Grand China Air which is a better name than Hainan Air given that most Americans do not have the foggiest notion where Hainan is geographically. The service will be non-stop 13-hour, 20-minute flights.

According to a a release from the local government, creating a nonstop service from Boston to China was a key goal of Governor Deval Patrick’s trade mission to China in December.

The CAAC said it would receive public comments on the application until April 10.

Massport CEO Thomas J. Kinton Jr., in a statement said, ‘We have been talking with the Chinese for three years to develop this route.

‘Every major US airport wants a China service, but we have the market to support it. Logan had 38,000 passengers travel from Boston on tickets purchased with a final destination of Beijing, and another 30,000 headed to Shanghai.’

With production delays in the long-range, fuel-efficient Boeing 787 Dreamliner pushing back aircraft delivery, it is unlikely the service on Hainan’s Grand China Airlines will begin before 2010.

Source: Boston Business Journal

Hainan Airlines, China’s fourth-largest air carrier, plans to add 17 new aircraft to its fleet this year, including 12 Boeing 737-800 jets, two Airbus A330s and three Airbus A340s.

The company also reported a 290% increase in net profit for 2007 to RMB651.39 million ($92.32 million), while sales rose 6% to RMB13.56 billion.

Its new aircraft plan for 2008 includes the purchase of 10 B737-800s at a total price of about RMB3.5 billion, while the remaining seven aircraft will be leased.

China’s airlines have been bolstered by booming domestic demand for leisure and business travel.
Source: Reuters, also Reuters

Hainan Airlines, China’s fourth-largest air carrier, saw its unaudited net profit for 2007 jumped at least 300% from 2006.

In January, the airline estimated the rise in profit at 200% but that was being a tad conservative.

China’s airlines were buoyed last year by booming domestic demand for leisure and business travel, as well as the benefits of a rising yuan. Air China posted a 19% rise in second-half profit.

Hainan Airlines said details of its 2007 results would be published in its annual report, which will come out this weekend.

The airline posted a net profit of RMB181.6 million ($25.64 million) in 2006.
Source: Reuters

China’s Hainan Airlines will launch direct flights between Beijing and Seattle from June 9 this year. It is the first time Chinese airliners have used the new China-U.S. air transport rights since China and the United States reached an agreement on revising the 2004 protocol on civil aviation last July.

The new air route has been approved by the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC) and the Department of Transportation of the United States.

Four flights are scheduled for Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday every week.

The flight will leave Beijing at 16:20 and arrive in Seattle at 12:00 local time. They will leave Seattle at 14:00 and arrive in Beijing at 16:35 the next day.

The one-way flight will last for about 11 hours. Airbus A330-200s will be used, offering 36 business class and 186 economy class seats.

Hainan Airlines said it will offer a low price for the tickets at RMB5,960 (about $839) for a round-trip.

Established in 1993, Hainan Airlines is one of the four biggest Chinese airlines.
Source: China View

Grand China Airlines, the nation’s fourth-biggest, is flying. It comes after the merger of four air carriers, including Shanghai-listed Hainan Airlines, in a bid to compete with the top three national players in a market that continues to boom.

Grand China has started flights from Beijing with the first from the northeastern port city of Dalian. It plans to add flights gradually ahead of next year’s Beijing Olympic Games in August.

Preparations for the new carrier started in July, 2004, by consolidating operations of Hainan Airlines, Xinhua Airlines, Chang’an Airlines and Shanxi Airlines under a newly established parent group called Grand China Airlines.

The parent company is 48.6% held by the Hainan provincial government. United States financier George Soros owns 18.6% of the venture, while HNA Group, parent of Hainan Airlines, holds 32.8%.

Grand China is planning to use Beijing Capital International Airport as its base and perform both international and domestic passenger and cargo air transport business. The air carrier will also lease three Boeing 737-800 aircraft from Hainan Airlines,

The number of Chinese mainland airline passengers is expected to grow by an average of 14.5% per year to reach 270 million in 2010.

Air China, China Southern Airlines and China Eastern Airlines are the biggest three airlines on the Chinese mainland. Air China has nearly half of the air-travel market in Beijing. Grand China Airlines is in with a chance but it has major competition. (Note our illustration shows a hostess on Hainan Airlines but as that is part of the new airline its use is excusable.)
Source: Shanghai Daily