On July 16, Hainan Airlines launched operations between Beijing and Belgrade, marking the resumption of non-stop scheduled flights between the two cities after 22 years. Hainan Airlines Airbus A330-300 aircraft, which is configured with 292 seats (32 seats in business class and the remaining 260 in economy class), landed at Nikola Tesla Airport at 08.20.
Due to China's restrictions on Covid-19, as well as passenger caps, flights are currently limited to one per week, but will increase to two per week in September or October.
The return service took off at 15.00. Due to Covid-19 restrictions, the point of entry into China will be Dalian, after which passengers will continue to Beijing.
"The flights are scheduled to connect to more than forty domestic destinations in cooperation with Hainan Group airlines."Said the company's vice president, Cheng Ming, at the launch of the route in Beijing.
For the first time, flights on the Beijing-Belgrade route were launched in August 1972 and operated by Air China. In fact, it was a multicity route: Beijing - Karachi - Belgrade - Bucharest. The flights were honored with Ilyushin Il-62 aircraft. Over the years, the final point of the trek moved from Bucharest to Paris Orly and then to Zurich. In 1978, the aircraft was upgraded to the Boeing 707, then to the Boeing 767 in 1989. There were flights between Beijing and Belgrade until 2000.