China’s Hainan Airlines launched its third direct service to Rome today with a new non-stop flight connecting the Italian capital with its growing hub in Shenzhen.
The new service will be a twice-a-week affair, flying every Thursday and Sunday. The departing HU437 flight departs in the early morning at 0130 and arrives in Rome the same day at 0810, while the returning HU438 flight leaves Rome at 1125 and lands back in Shenzhen the following morning at 0520.
Flights will be operated by the airline’s Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft. Hainan Airlines has two different business class seat products on its Dreamliners – a forward-facing seat laid out in a 2-2-2 configuration…
…and a reverse-herringbone seat set up in a 1-2-1 layout.
The good news for business class passengers on the new Rome route is that both these seats recline to form a fully flat bed.
Unfortunately, the Dreamliner deployed on this service isn’t one outfitted with the newer reverse-herringbone seats. This means passengers right next to the windows won’t have unencumbered access to the aisles.
Hainan Airlines operates two other services to the Italian capital, a non-stop flight from Xi’an, as well as a direct flight from Haikou that has a stopover in Chongqing.
Shenzhen is increasingly becoming a key hub for the Haikou-based carrier, with Hainan Airlines notably operating flights to Brisbane, Cairns, Auckland, Madrid and Paris from the south China city.
