Hainan Airlines of China, ranked within the World Airline Awards Top 20, announced last week that it will begin running direct flights from Beijing to Dar es Salaam.
The announcement came in China by Mr. Chen Feng, Chairman of Hainan, after discussions between he and Tanzania Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda during his nine-day visit.
Mr. Feng also asked Prime Minister Pinda to continue talks regarding improvements to Air Tanzania; consideration of making the Julies Nyrere International Airport (JNIA) an African hub for Hainan Airlines; and infrastructural updates to JNIA.
Construction is currently underway to add a third terminal at JNIA that will accommodate up to 6 million people.
Prime Minister Pinda commented that the direct flights would be a great boon to the Tanzanian business community and tourism sector, as current Beijing – Dar flights are expensive and require three to four connections.
