News
Donghai Airlines to launch Wanzhou-Utapao
May 25th 2018
Donghai Airlines is carving out new monopoly niche routes. Read More » This week the Shenzhen-headquartered airline announced a three times a week Wanzhou-Utapao Thailand route, which will starting from May 31 and be serviced by B737-800s with eight business and 159 economy class seats.
Wanzhou has a population of more than 1.8 million and is located on the upper reaches of the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River near Chongqing. Wanzhou Airport has a single 3,000m runway and has only received domestic flights to date. The largest domestic airlines flying to Wanzhou are Donghai parent, Sichuan Airlines, and Air China subsidiary, Shenzhen Airlines.
Wanzhou-Utapao will be Donghai’s fourth international route. On May 30, Donghai will launch its maiden intercontinental service: twice a week Shenzhen-Darwin, making it the ninth Mainland carrier to enter the Australia-China market.
The Shenzhen-Darwin route will be the first nonstop flight to China out of Darwin Airport. The capital of Australia’s Northern Territory is linked to Asia with SilkAir and Jetstar Asia flights. AirAsia, Malaysia Airlines and Philippines Airlines terminated their routes to the city because of low load factors.
Donghai has 19 B737-800s and orders for 25 B737 MAX 8s and five B787-9s. The B878s will launch more flights to Australia’s east coast and Europe.
As for Utapao, the coastal city near Pattaya is quickly becoming a favourite vacation spot for Mainlanders. Nok Air, AirAsia and a growing number of Mainland carriers are offering scheduled and charter services from countless Chinese cities, including Baotou, Changsha, Haikou, Linyi, Meizhou, Nanchang, Yichang and Yichuan.
Thai Air Asia and Thai AirAsia X are working on making Utapao their secondary hub amid growing congestion at Bangkok’s Don Mueang Airport, a 90-minute car ride away in good traffic conditions.
