AIR CHINA TO CUBA Asian airline inaugurates first direct route

Posted on 12/29/2015

The first direct flight between China and Cuba took off last weekend from Beijing International Airport. It is the first direct route linking China and the Caribbean operated by an Asian airline. The trip takes 19.5 hours, with a stopover for refuelling in Montreal.

China became the world’s top source of tourists in 2014, but Chinese tourists tend mainly to visit Europe and Southeast Asia. The new Air China service is expected to boost tourism between China and Cuba. Cuba and China have a “long-running friendship” and the flight will draw more “tourists and Chinese businessmen” to the island, Cuban Ambassador to China Alberto Jesus Fernando Silva said during a ceremony organized by Cuban diplomats and Air China at Beijing airport before the plane’s departure. The ambassador pointed out that tourist arrivals from China had risen 27 percent in Cuba in the past year.

Air China executive Fan Cheng said that the direct flight will help “promote links with Cuba and the Caribbean.” Cuba was the first country in Latin America to establish diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China, Fan noted. He Zhigang, marketing director of Air China International, said, “People traveling to Cuba used to transfer in Paris or Mexico, which would take them over 20 hours in flight time. So the direct flight from Beijing to Havana is the most convenient.

“The opening of the direct flight will also help more people learn about the beautiful scenery of Cuba and the Caribbean Sea, and attract more Chinese tourists.” The number of Chinese tourists in Cuba has already exceeded 25,000 this year.