News
HNA acquires Heathrow slots
May 5th 2017
China’s rising giant, the HNA Group, has at last succeeded in acquiring slots at London’s Heathrow Airport. HNA’s Beijing Capital Airlines will launch a thrice-weekly Heathrow-Qingdao A330 flight “this summer”, the carrier said. Read More »
"This new route will offer more convenient and comfortable travel services to citizens in both countries than any previous experience flying from Heathrow to Qingdao. It will be a starting point for us to continually increase the UK's transportation capacity and further expand the UK tourism market," said Xu Jun, CEO of the Chinese carrier.
Beijing Capital Airlines launched flights between Hangzhou-Beijing-Birmingham last year. Sister carrier, Tianjin Airlines, operates a twice-weekly Tianjin-Chongqing-Gatwick A330 route.Mainline Hainan Airlines is expected to announce its first frequencies into Heathrow soon.
The new service brings to four the number of Mainland cities served nonstop from Heathrow. The others are Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.John Holland-Kaye, CEO of Heathrow, said the UK’s future ability to trade in the world “will rely on direct access to new, expanding markets like these”.
In related news, China Southern Airlines last month announced the addition of a second daily B787 flight between its Guangzhou hub and Heathrow.
