Building an Air Friendship Bridge for People Between China and Canada

BEIJING, Nov. 27, 2010 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- 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 13:40 PM, November 27 (Toronto local time). Over 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. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper congratulated Hainan Airlines on launching its inaugural flight to Toronto in a special congratulation letter.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20101127/CN07925 )

Greetings from the Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, said: The new flight route is a fitting celebration of the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Canada and China. As this new service attests, the relationship between our two dynamic nations is flourishing, with more trade, people-to-people links, and greater cooperation than ever before.

Hazel McCallion congratulated Hainan Airlines’ non-stop service between Toronto and Beijing in her address. She said that this new route will definitely facilitate the economic development in Mississauga as well as in the Greater Toronto Area, and will attach great significance to the bilateral relations between China and Canada.

Hainan Airlines President, Wang Yingming, said in his address that the Beijing-Toronto service builds a convenient and comfortable air friendship bridge for people between China and Canada, which will facilitate communications and cooperation in various aspects between the two countries. The airline will try its best to do well in the flight's operation security effort with the service concept "convenient, warm and constantly improving," to appreciate passengers' anxious expectation about and best wishes for the service, bringing more benefits to the two countries' people.

Then, guests attending the ceremony cut the ribbon for the flight's debut. Lloyd McCoomb, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Greater Toronto Airports Authority, exchanged gifts with Hainan Airlines President Wang Yingming.

The inaugural return flight HU7976 successfully departed from Toronto Pearson International Airport at 16:10 pm. The flight's operation demonstrates that Hainan Airlines has become the first airline in mainland China operating the Beijing-Toronto service.

The aircraft running on this route is the Airbus A340 wide-body luxury airliner. The new route will have three flights per week, which are on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday, departing from Toronto at 16:10 local time and arriving in Beijing at 19:25 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. In addition to the Airbus A340 luxury airliner, 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.

As China's first SKYTRAX four-star airline, Hainan Airlines provides seamless air-land services for passengers. First-class passengers will enjoy not only personal check-in guide and VIP treatment at the airport, but also 180-degree lie-flat seat, 10.6-inch touch-control LCD personal entertainment system and various catering services including steak, western snacks and lunch by the very best chefs on board, all of which allow passengers from both China and Canada to experience Hainan Airlines' unique hospitality.

"Hainan Airlines' Beijing-Toronto service is the first flight route operated by an airline in mainland China after the country approved Canada as a destination for leisure travel. In addition, it is also the carrier's second international route launched to the North America, following its Beijing-Seattle flight, and represents an important step in building our international route network. We believe that this new service will not only bring a new air corridor between the two international metropolises -- Beijing and Toronto, but also provide a new travel choice for Chinese and Canadian passengers," said Wang Yingming, President of Hainan Airlines in an interview.

With 22 existing international routes, Hainan Airlines has built an international route network worldwide consisting of short- and medium-haul flights to Japan, South Korea, Russia and Central Asia, and long-haul flights to Europe, the Americas, Africa and Australia.

SOURCE HNA Group