When Flight 3U8407 operated by Sichuan Airlines departed from Sanya to Chungju in South Korea on Dec 23, it marked the opening of the 100th overseas route in Hainan province.
The Sanya-Yantai-Chungju route is able to save at least nine hours for travellers in transit time than before, when they previously had to make stopovers in cities like Seoul and Jeju Island, according to Zhang Yuesheng, an official from the Hainan subsidiary of Sichuan Airlines.
In the first 11 months of this year, more than 18,700 overseas flights took off from or landed in Hainan, an increase of 22 percent year-on-year. The total passenger throughput in the province reached a total of 2.3 million, up 28.1 year-on-year, while the cargo and mail throughput hit 4,674 tons, surging by 92.3 percent compared with the same period last year.
A celebration for the opening of Hainan's 100th overseas route is held at Sanya Phoenix International Airport on Dec 23. [Photo/Hainan Daily]
Behind the increase of these indicators is the rapid growth of Hainan's overseas routes, which has been prioritized by the CPC Hainan Provincial Committee and the local government.
At present, the province has overseas routes covering 20 countries, including the ASEAN countries, Mongolia, South Korea, Japan, Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, India, Australia, Italy, the United Kingdom, and 62 Chinese cities in Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions, as well as Taiwan.
The "four-hour" and "eight-hour" flight economic circles have basically taken shape, while the province's civil aviation industry has entered a stage of high-quality development. These developments are expected to serve as a bridge to link the construction of the Hainan Pilot Free Trade Port with the world.
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