BEIJING, China, Friday December 17, 2015 – Air China will fly directly to Cuba for the first time later this month, with 300 passengers expected on board the inaugural flight.
Cuba’s Tourism Ministry announced that the Boeing 777 will touch down in Havana on the morning of December 27.
The Havana service is an extension of the Beijing-Montreal service which started on September 29. Air China will connect Beijing and Havana three times a week, with stop-overs in Montreal.
“In recent years, the economic and trade ties between China and Cuba have become increasingly close. Air China’s Montreal-Havana-Beijing service will not only become a new link between China and Cuba, but also further the economic, trade and cultural cooperation between the two countries, giving a further boost to Cuba’s tourism in particular,” Air China said in announcing the flight.
“The new service will be the first of the kind between China and Cuba, making it much easier to travel between China and other Asian regions and Cuba, and offering an easy option to travelers in Cuba and the Caribbean who can fly on Air China to Beijing and then connect to other parts of the world.”
The airline, China’s national flag carrier, said the service represents “a tangible move by Air China to expand its footprint in the Central and South American regions”.
The new service will bring the number of destinations in the Americas that Air China serves up to 10, including New York (JFK, Newark), Washington, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, Vancouver, Montreal, Hawaii, Sao Paulo and Havana.
