CHONGQING, China, April 29, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Hainan Airlines Co., Ltd. initiated non-stop flight service between Chongqing and Rome on April 27, 2015. Codenamed HU7991, the inaugural flight took off from Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport at 1:30 am on April 27 Beijing Time and landed at Rome's Fiumicino-Leonardo da Vinci International Airport at 7:50 am local time. Rome has been added to the roster of Hainan Airlines' destinations in Europe following Paris, Brussels, Berlin, Moscow and Saint Petersburg. As one of the gateway cities to western China, Chongqing now has its first direct flight to Western Europe.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150429/212500

On the afternoon of April 26, Hainan Airlines held a brief inaugural ceremony in Chongqing. When flight HU7991 landed in Rome, airport staff greeted the passengers arriving from China with the traditional practice popular in the aviation sector, of spraying the entire exterior of the aircraft just having completed the maiden voyage of a newly-opened route with water.

Hainan Airlines CEO Xie Haoming said, "The opening of the Chongqing-Rome route has further improved our network of European routes, which, in turn, will provide a more comprehensive set of services to meet the growing travel demands of passengers who need to shuttle between China and the various countries in Europe as well as go a long way in nurturing economic and cultural exchanges between China and Italy."

When it comes to the globalization process which Hainan Airlines has actively embraced and been constantly pushing forward in recent years, Xie Haoming added that although the Chinese economy has entered what has been termed as the "new normal", China's outbound travel and international business travel will become the main sources of demand across the aviation sector as well as the key driving force for accelerating Hainan Airlines' globalization process, in tandem with the "One Belt, One Road" initiative being undertaken by the Chinese government.

Following the opening of the Chongqing-Rome route, Hainan Airlines will plans to shortly open several more international routes, including Beijing-San Jose, Shanghai-Boston and Shanghai-Seattle. The opening of new routes will further improve the airline's network through close cooperation with international partners.

Hainan Airlines' Chongqing-Rome route is serviced by the twin-aisle Airbus A330-200 capable of transporting 260 passengers. The business class section comes equipped with 18 fully reclining seats while economy provides seating for 242 passengers. Every passenger, no matter what class of seat, has access to a personal TV entertainment system.

HNA Chongqing=Rome Flight Schedule (Note: All the takeoff and landing time is local time):

About Hainan Airlines:

Hainan Airlines Co., Ltd., committed to providing comprehensive, seamless air services to travelers, was founded in January 1993. The 5-star rated airline is the only SKYTRAX member from mainland China.

Hainan Airlines has a young fleet mainly composed of Boeing 737s, 787s and Airbus 330s, with a network of over 600 inbound and outbound routes connecting more than 90 cities, providing comprehensive coverage across China and linking China with Europe, North America and the rest of Asia.   

For more information, please visit the Hainan Airlines' official website www.hnair.com.

Related Links

http://www.hnair.com

SOURCE Hainan Airlines Co., LTD