Air China started flights between Beijing - Hawaii service and the launch celebrated with a ceremony held at T3 of Beijing Capital International Airport at 15:00 on January 20, 2014.
At the ceremony, dancers from Hawaii treated the audience to the distinctive Hula dance, which is a showcase of Hawaii's indigenous culture, and presented garlands to the invited guests on stage, giving the occasion a rich tropical feel.
The new service, CA837/8, is the first nonstop air link between Beijing and Hawaii. It's operated three times a week on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday with widebody A330-200. The outbound flight departs from Beijing at 1:30 Beijing time and arrives in Hawaii at 16:30 local time. The return flight takes off from Hawaii at 22:00 local time and arrives in Beijing at 5:20 Beijing time on the third day.
In recent years, China's market demand for travel to Hawaii has been growing rapidly. Statistics show that in 2012 Chinese traveler numbers increased by 64% year-on-year. The new route will meet the surging demand for air services of Chinese travelers to Hawaii, sparing the travelers residing in areas around Beijing the trouble of having to transfer in Shanghai, and offer an additional transfer option to travelers from Europe and the Middle East bound for Hawaii. In addition to the Beijing - Hawaii nonstop service, other new international services that Air China will soon introduce include Beijing-Vienna-Barcelona and Shanghai-Munich. These new services will further cement the carrier's global route network and make it easier for passengers in China and neighboring countries to travel to other parts of the world via Beijing.
