Hainan Airlines shifts Gulf hub to Abu Dhabi
Etihad Airways’ codeshare partner Hainan Airlines has shifted its Gulf flight operations from Dubai to Abu Dhabi.
The Skytrax five-star rated airline now operates its twice weekly Beijing to Luanda service via Etihad Airways’ hub in Abu Dhabi. The new services are timed to offer Hainan Airlines’ guests seamless connectivity from Beijing to Berlin and London Heathrow and from Cairo, the Maldives and Casablanca* to Beijing on the return.
The move to Abu Dhabi expands the scope of cooperation between the airline partners beyond the original agreement, signed in December 2011, to codeshare on flights and offer guests reciprocal frequent flyer programme benefits.
Currently, Hainan Airlines places its ‘HU’ code on Etihad Airways-operated flights between Abu Dhabi and Beijing, Chengdu and Shanghai, and from Abu Dhabi to Khartoum International Airport in Sudan.
Hainan Airlines is the second airline partner from the Asia Pacific region to shift its Gulf operations to Abu Dhabi in recent times. Garuda Indonesia also consolidated its operations in Abu Dhabi as of 2 December, following the signing of a comprehensive codeshare agreement in October.