XIAMEN, SHENZHEN, China and SEATTLE, Sept. 26, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Xiamen Airlines launched its Xiamen-Shenzhen-Seattle service on Sept. 26^th, creating an air bridge connecting two of China's major special economic zones and an economic heavyweight on the U.S. West Coast. This is not only the first long haul route originating in Xiamen with an end point in the United States, but also the first direct international service between Shenzhen and the U.S.

The service will be handled by a Xiamen Airlines Boeing 787 Dreamliner, with three flights per week, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The flight numbers are MF845 and MF846.

Xiamen Airlines chairman and general manager Che Shanglun said, "The launch of the Xiamen-Shenzhen-Seattle service is an important reflection of the results of the meeting between Chinese and American leaders in 2015. On the heels of these events, a Fuzhou-New York and a Xiamen-LA service will also be initiated, making air travel, and, by consequence, exchanges between the two countries much easier."

The Xiamen-Shenzhen-Seattle service is the sixth long haul and the first American route that Xiamen Airlines has launched. The existing services including Xiamen-Amsterdam, Fuzhou-Sydney, Xiamen-Sydney, Xiamen-Melbourne and Xiamen-Vancouver. The newly opened Seattle service is Xiamen Airlines' first long haul route with a stop at a city outside of the Fujian province.

To complete the build out of a network that extends beyond Seattle, Xiamen Airlines has signed a partnership agreement with Alaska Airlines that enables passengers traveling to Seattle via Xiamen Airlines, to fly onward to 61 major and secondary destinations across the U.S., Canada and Mexico by connecting to an Alaska Airlines flight in Seattle.

The launch of the route marks the first time the Xiamen Airlines fleet has had a chance to visit the home of their "birth", as Seattle, where Boeing is located, is where each member of the 165-strong fleet of aircraft was manufactured and first saw the light of day. As a loyal client of Boeing Co., Xiamen Airlines operates the largest all-Boeing aircraft fleet in China.

Over the past 3 decades, Xiamen Airlines has taken delivery of hundreds of brand new Boeing airliners and, due to the low cost advantage of an all-Boeing fleet, Xiamen Airlines has continuously shown a profit for 29 years, the longest period of reporting uninterrupted profits in Chinese civil aviation history.

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SOURCE Xiamen Airlines