Hainan Airlines, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker and the Massachusetts Port Authority announced Wednesday the addition of three non-stop weekly flights between Boston Logan International Airport and Shanghai and an increase in non-stop service from Boston to Beijing, according to a Wednesday press release.
Hainan Airlines, China’s largest private airline, plans to partner with JetBlue Airways to provide connections through Boston for travelers coming from the East Coast, the release stated.
Two Boeing 787 Dreamliners are scheduled to start service on June 20 to Shanghai from Logan every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday afternoon. Flight time lasts approximately 15 hours, 10 minutes westbound and 14 hours, 40 minutes eastbound, the release stated.
Hainan Airlines began providing non-stop flights between Boston and Beijing beginning on June 20, 2014, The Daily Free Press reported on Dec. 13, 2013. This service occurred four times a week and was a huge step for travel between Logan International Airport and China. The Boston to Beijing service will now include a daily scheduled flight with service beginning May 1.
Because these additions serve as a continuation of existing sources, the airline does not foresee issues with booking with the updated schedule, said Yi Pan, a manager of the Hainan Airlines Boston Office.
“Boston to Beijing flights operated successfully because the market has great demand and a lot of traffic,” Pan said.
Baker said in the release that the increase in flights will increase the Commonwealth’s global connectivity.
“The importance of new international nonstop routes cannot be overstated in how they enable Massachusetts to engage with the rest of the world,” Baker said in the release. “To be world class, you need to be connected with the world, and Massachusetts is world class.”
Ji Chun Liu, the director of Hainan’s International Department, said in the release that growing international trade will be augmented by the increasingly convenient transportation.
“Now we are excited to open a new nonstop route from Boston to the important commercial city of Shanghai,” Liu said in the release. “The community of interest and expanding trade between New England and China has grown this market exponentially, enhanced by the new reciprocal ten-year visas between the two countries recently put into place.”
Jennifer Mehigan, a spokesperson from the Massachusetts Port Authority said Boston is the largest U.S.-Shanghai air travel market without nonstop service.
“Shanghai is Boston’s largest unserved international market, with more than 73,000 passengers travelling between the two cities last year,” she said in an email. “Continuing to increase the number of international destinations one can reach from Boston benefits everyone throughout the region.”
Mehigan said the added flight options to Shanghai will be beneficial to businesses.
“This new non-stop flight to Shanghai will provide access for more businesses to create or improve relationships, for more families to reconnect and for an increase in tourism and travel between China and the U.S.,” Mehigan said.
Several residents and Boston University students had positive reactions to the possibility of easier international travel.
Yuting Lin, 22, of Brighton, said it’s nice to see improvements in the business relationship between the United States and China.
“It’s good because nowadays China is more powerful so maybe it will present the USA and China with a close business relationship,” she said.
John Romard, 45, of Allston, said international travel can be valuable, as long as safety is taken into account.
“Any opportunity for any international travel is going to be positive, trusting that security measures on their end are fine in the time that we live today,” he said.
Yolanda Grant, 30, of Charlestown, said the new flights will be beneficial, especially for students and businesses.
“Boston’s becoming more of a global city, especially with the students here, so it’ll probably be good for everyone, for local business and also for China as well,” she said.
Yuan Wang, a senior in the College of Engineering, said the flights will provide an easier commute for international students.
“I live near Beijing, so daily flights between Beijing and Boston and the flights from Shanghai to Boston will make it convenient for students or travelers coming to America, so I think it will increase tourism,” he said.
Rachel Leighton, a senior in the Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, said the perks of easier travel will increase the amount of visitors to both cities.
“The direct flight will increase the people coming into Boston, and it will give people opportunities to come study, and that will be a good thing,” she said.“It will also increase possibilities for people in Boston to go as well and do a lot more things there, so I think it will make it more easily accessible and desirable to travel there.”
