Yangtze River Express, the freight subsidiary of HNA Group, has expanded its business into passenger services with the launch of flights between Shanghai Pudong and Sanya.
The carrier was recently given the go-ahead by The Civil Aviation Administration of China to deploy domestic passenger flights.
The first passenger route between Shanghai and Sanya is operated by the airline's new B737-800, which it took delivery of last month. A second B737 aircraft was delivered on December 13, with more expected next year.
In China Daily, the airline’s president of passenger traffic Yang Zhihua revealed that Yangtze River Express intends to open up a further two new routes in the coming months, linking Shanghai to Zhuhai and Guiyang.
Yang revealed that the growing strength of passenger travel was a more lucrative opportunity, as compared to the cargo business. According to statistics by IATA, the demand for freight grew just 1.9 per cent year on year – dwarfed by the strong 6.9 per cent growth in passenger traffic demand.
Yangtze River Express is the third domestic freight carrier in China to extend its business to commercial passenger flights. Loong Air and Donghai Airlines, which are based in Hangzhou and Shenzhen respectively, have also added passenger traffic to the business.
For more information, visit yzr.com.cn (Chinese only)
Clement Huang
