Xiamen Airlines begins first ever direct Seattle-Shenzhen flights

Xiamen Airlines, one of the largest Chinese carriers, recently launched its first ever direct flights to Seattle from Shenzhen. The airline will serve the new route with thrice weekly flights services utilizing its new Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft, configured with 4 seats in First Class, 28 seats in Business Class and 236 seats in Economy Class. The customers traveling in first and business class would be offered complimentary on-board Wi-Fi.

Xiamen Airlines, which is a subsidiary of state-owned China Southern Airlines and member of leading global airline alliance SkyTeam, has revealed its plans to expand its footprint in North America further. It may be known that the airline had earlier in July this year launched its inaugural North American service between Xiamen and Vancouver.

Media reports said that Xiamen Airlines would be launching its new routes next year. The reports said that the airline would launch its new flights between Fuzhou and New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport starting from February 15, 2017. Apart from this, the airline would also start flights between Xiamen and Los Angeles sometime during mid-2017. With more than 140 Boeing aircrafts, and 30 more to be purchased in future, Xiamen Airlines is the only Chinese carrier to operate an all-Boeing fleet.

Shenzhen is one of the wealthiest and largest cities in China. Moreover, the city is also popularly called the “Silicon Valley of China”. Fred Felleman, Port of Seattle Commissioner, while welcoming the maiden Xiamen Airlines flight at an impressive ceremony at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, said that the launch of flights to Shenzhen would offer both leisure and business visitors from the United States to explore this key city of China. Moreover, the arrival of Xiamen Airlines would additionally boost Seattle’s status as a flourishing tourism and business hub. Felleman said, “Xiamen Airlines is not known to many travelers from the United States. This is though set to be changed in due course with the airline’s arrival in Seattle. Above all, the airline has ambitious plans for the United States, which is going to prove advantageous to U.S. travelers.”