Hainan Airlines opens new Beijing-Toronto route
Hainan Airlines held an inauguration ceremony on Saturday to celebrate a new Beijing-Toronto air route they described as an “air friendship bridge” for travel between China and Canada.
The inauguration ceremony for Hainan Airlines’ Beijing-Toronto flight was held at Toronto Pearson International Airport after the inaugural flight landed at the airport safely at 1:40 pm, November 27 (Toronto local time).
More than 150 guests were present at the ceremony, including Hazel McCallion, Mayor of Mississauga, Greater Toronto Area; Lloyd McCoomb, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Greater Toronto Airports Authority; Chen Ligang, Consul General of China in Toronto; Hainan Airlines President Wang Yingming and Vice President Chen Ming, as well as local journalists.
The Canadian Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, sent a special letter to congratulate Hainan Airlines on its inaugural flight to Toronto, and said the new air route was a fitting celebration of the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Canada and China.
Hazel McCallion congratulated Hainan Airlines’ non-stop service between Toronto and Beijing in her address. She said that this new route will help the economic development in Mississauga as well as in the Greater Toronto Area, and strengthens the bilateral relations between China and Canada.
Hainan Airlines President, Wang Yingming, said the Beijing-Toronto service builds a convenient and comfortable air friendship bridge for people between China and Canada, which will facilitate communications and cooperation between both countries.
The inaugural return flight HU7976 took off from Toronto Pearson International Airport at 4:10 pm to fly back to China, making Hainan Airlines the first airline in mainland China to operate the Beijing-Toronto service. The aircraft used on this route is the Airbus A340 wide-body luxury airliner.
The new route will have three flights per week, Monday, Wednesday and Saturday, departing from Toronto at 16:10 (4:10 pm) local time and arriving in Beijing at 19:25 (7:25 pm) the next day local time. The return flight departs from Beijing at 13:00 local time and arrives in Toronto at 13:40 local time. The travel time will be around 13 hours.
Hainan Airlines is offering attractive promotion prices to celebrate the launch of the new service. The price for economy-class round-trip from Toronto is CAD 499; business-class one-way CAD 3,000; and business-class round-trip CAD 3,600.
The price for economy-class round-trip from Beijing is RMB 4,800; business-class one-way RMB 19,800; and business-class round-trip RMB 35,000. In addition, the airline offers a variety of promotions during holidays such as Christmas and New Year’s Day, to provide diversified services for passengers.
