Hainan Airlines, the Chinese airline with the five-star Skytrax rating, is strengthening its worldwide presence with the inauguration of a new sales office in Switzerland. Aviareps is opening the office on 1 May 2011 and will act as Hainan Airlines’ General Sales Agent. Airline & Tourism Center, Aviareps’ Swiss subsidiary with more than ten years of professional experience in airline representation, is taking on all sales, marketing and ticketing activities on behalf of the privately-owned Chinese carrier. The Zurich-based office will also serve its customers with a professional call centre for reservations and flight bookings.

As of 31 May 2011, Hainan Airlines will operate scheduled non-stop flights between Zurich and Beijing. The route will initially be operated three times a week (Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday) with the Airbus A330-200 – offering 34 business class and 179 economy class seats. The frequency is likely to be increased if market demand grows. Hainan Airlines also offers code sharing connections with Air Berlin from Zurich to Beijing via Berlin. Hainan Airlines’ start-up of a non-stop service between Zurich and Beijing will provide almost daily options for business travellers on this route.

Zurich is Hainan Airlines’ fourth European destination after Budapest, Brussels and Berlin. China’s fourth largest airline can easily connect with all the major and provincial capital cities of China as well as Asian and Russian destinations thanks to its sweeping route network, which covers approximately 100 destinations around the world with over 500 flights a week. Since 10 January 2011, Hainan Airlines has been the exclusive Skytrax 5-star airline in mainland China and the 7th in the world. Furthermore, the premium carrier has held a top record on safety since its start-up of operations in 1993.