Hainan expands international flight routes to boost global exchange

During the four days from October 8 to 11, three new international flight routes were opened from Sanya, south China's Hainan Province, to Belarus' Minsk, Mongolia's Ulaanbaatar, Russia's Ulan-Ude and Malaysia's Kuala Lumpur. These routes further expand China's international flight network and strengthen connectivity with Belt and Road Initiative partner countries.

The opening of the "Sanya-Minsk" route marks a breakthrough, connecting Sanya with Belarus for the first time, with the inaugural flight achieving an impressive 98 percent passenger occupancy rate. 

The "Ulaanbaatar-Sanya-Ulan-Ude" route is Sanya's third passenger flight route under the fifth freedom of the air, following "Phnom Penh-Sanya-Singapore" and "Frankfurt-Bangkok-Sanya," enabling passenger to exchange and logistics cooperation between China, Mongolia and Russia.

The "Sanya-Kuala Lumpur" route links Sanya with the ASEAN hub city of Kuala Lumpur, and, under the mutual visa-free policy between China and Malaysia, will further strengthen Hainan's role as an aviation gateway to ASEAN nations.

"Direct flights to Sanya will greatly benefit our tourism industry. Malaysian tourists can now fly directly to Sanya without having to stop in Haikou. This is a very special day," said Liu Weikang, president of the Malaysian Chinese Tourism Association.

Hainan has previously carried out tourism promotion activities in Southeast Asia, Russia, Belarus and other regions, helping raise the international profile and lay the foundation for the development of Sanya's international flight routes.

So far, Sanya has launched a total of 38 international flight routes, covering 29 overseas destinations.