Chinese airline Hainan Airlines, which operates direct flights from Ben Gurion Airport to Beijing, submitted a request late last week to operate direct flights between Shanghai and Ben Gurion Airport. Hainan is seeking to begin three weekly direct Shanghai flights from September 12 to October 28, 2017 using Boeing 787s and Airbus 330s.
Up until now, there have been no direct flights from Ben Gurion Airport to this destination. The Chinese airline will receive a grant from the Ministry of Tourism to cover marketing activity in order to attract tourism to Israel from Shanghai. Israel has set a goal of increasing the number of tourists arriving in Israel from China.
Minister of Transport Yisrael Katz said that increasing the number of airlines allowed to operate scheduled flights to Israel "is a national strategic goal of the country." He added, "We are continuing to develop the airports in Israel and bringing down prices, so that the consumer revolution will reach every home, and the Israeli public will be the main beneficiary."
Published by Globes [online], Israel Business News - www.globes-online.com - on May 25, 2017
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