The service from Ireland to China will be available four times a week.
It has been announced that Hainan Airlines will launch a new year-round service from Ireland to China starting on 12 June. Hainan will operate flights from Dublin to Beijing four times per week.
On two days per week, the service will be direct, with non-stop flights between Dublin and Beijing. On the other two days, the flights will operate with a stopover in Edinburgh. No doubt, Irish fans of the Chinese Super League will be in raptures at the news.
The direct Beijing-Dublin flights will operate on Thursdays and Sundays. Flights will depart Beijing at 01:30, arriving in Dublin at 06:00. The direct Dublin-Beijing service will operate on Tuesdays and Saturdays and will depart Dublin Airport at 11:10, arriving in Beijing at 05:00 the following day.
The Beijing-Edinburgh-Dublin service will operate on Tuesdays and Saturdays. Flights will depart Beijing at 01:30, arriving in Dublin at 09:10 via Edinburgh. The Dublin-Edinburgh-Beijing service will operate on Thursdays and Sundays, departing at 08:00 and arriving in Beijing via Edinburgh at 05:00 the following day.
The new route was announced at a reception in the Irish Embassy in Beijing on Thursday, which was attended by the Tánaiste Simon Coveney T.D. and representatives from Dublin Airport, Hainan Airlines, Beijing Airport and Tourism Ireland.
https://twitter.com/IrlEmbChina/status/974190620762714112
“This first-ever direct route to mainland China and the first Irish destination in Hainan Airlines’ international network is a major achievement, which will prove transformational to the bilateral relationship between China and Ireland,” the Tánaiste said.
Dublin Airport Managing Director, Vincent Harrison was equally enthused, saying: "This is a hugely significant announcement for the Irish economy. Hainan’s new Dublin-Beijing route links not just our two capital cities, but also our two countries. It is great news for tourism and trade and this improved connectivity will create new jobs throughout Ireland.”
Last year, about 120,000 passengers travelled between Ireland and mainland China, with journeys to and from Beijing accounting for more than a quarter of those trips. Ireland is the largest travel market in Europe for Chinese traffic that does not currently have a non-stop flight.
Tourism Ireland estimates that about 70,000 Chinese visitors came to the island of Ireland last year, up from 60,000 visitors in 2016. China is the world’s largest outbound travel market, and one of the fastest-growing, with trips from China predicted to grow to 200 million per year by 2020.
