Hainan Airlines to Relaunch Beijing-Cairo Service

China's Hainan Airlines is aiming to return to the Africa/Middle East market with the relaunch of the Beijing-Cairo route in December, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China.

The Haikou-based carrier plans to fly an Airbus A330 on the 3X-weekly service. The last time it operated this route was in 2012.

The airline used to operate Beijing-Dubai-Khartoum (Sudan) and Beijing-Abu Dhabi-Luanda (Angola) service, but suspended the routes because of operating losses and the unstable political situation.

However, Hainan Airlines still showed an interest in the Africa/Middle East market in 2012 when it launched Ghana's Africa World Airlines (AWA), a joint venture with the China-Africa Development Fund, Ghana SAS Financial Group and Ghana Social Security and National Insurance Trust.

As part of Beijing's national "One Belt, One Road" policy in recent years, Chinese carriers have again begun exploring the Africa/Middle East market.
By Katie Cantle, ATW Daily News