Hainan Airlines plans a new Tianjin base to secure routes to New York and Vancouver

Not blessed with an inherent position the way state-owned carriers are, Hainan Airlines has had to turn to improvisation and creativity. Fellow Beijing carrier Air China holds traffic rights for lucrative long haul routes so Hainan Airlines had to look for secondary markets like Boston and San Jose although there were blue chip wins like Chicago and Toronto, which Air China had neglected.

But the markets of New York and Vancouver have been too important to pass over. After proposing a number of ideas to serve New York, Hainan Airlines instead plans to open a long haul base in Tianjin to serve New York and Vancouver from Jun-2016. Beijing would of course have been preferable, but neighbouring Tianjin has potential. It is near Beijing with a high speed link into the city, and Hainan Airlines will have some feed from locally-based sister carrier Tianjin Airlines. The Tianjin long haul base follows primary long haul bases of Beijing and the recent opening of Shanghai Pudong.