Tag Archives: Qingdao

Dubai Airports and China Eastern celebrated the arrival of the carrier’s inaugural flight from Qingdao to Dubai at Dubai International (DXB) on Saturday evening. The thrice weekly service is an important addition to China Eastern’s existing flights connecting DXB to Shanghai and Kunming, and the first ever to connect DXB to Qingdao, a major port city of 9 million population located on China’s Yellow Sea coast. China Eastern will operate three flights per week between the two cities, offering customers greater connectivity and convenience. A top trading partner of the UAE, China is a major contributor to DXB’s traffic with more than 3.5 million travellers in 2018. China is also one of the fastest growing countries in terms of volume of visitors to Dubai with numbers growing 12 per cent to 857,000 in 2018. A total of five airlines, including China Eastern, connect Dubai to 10 destinations across China on 81 weekly flights.

Emirates and China Southern Airlines have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to progress on a comprehensive reciprocal codeshare agreement, which is set to open up new destinations for passengers travelling between China, Middle East and Africa. The partnership with the Guangzhou-based carrier also allows Emirates’ passengers to enjoy seamless connectivity on domestic flights within China, adding eight new destinations to its global network. The Chinese cities covered by the codeshare agreement include Fuzhou, Chongqing, Kunming, Qingdao, Xiamen, Chengdu, Nanjing and Xi ‘an during the initial phase of the partnership, subject to necessary government approvals. Passengers travelling from China will have more choice and travel seamlessly with minimum connection times when flying to destinations in Emirates’ Middle East network such as Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam, Muscat, Kuwait and Cairo. The codeshare agreement also includes flights to African destinations such as Seychelles and Lagos, operated by Emirates. With the UAE’s visa-free policy for Chinese visitors, passengers can also enjoy hassle-free stopovers in Dubai and experience what the city has to offer before flying to their final destinations. The codeshare partnership will provide customers with the simplicity of purchasing connecting flights using one reservation and a smooth ticketing, check-in, boarding and baggage check experience during the entire journey. “We’re pleased to establish a partnership with China Southern Airlines, allowing Emirates’ customers to benefit from increased choice, flexibility and ease of connection to different cities across China’s provinces, by connecting in Guangzhou. The addition of the eight domestic routes in the initial stage expands our reach in China, beyond the three Chinese hub cities of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou,” said Adnan Kazim, Divisional Senior Vice President of Strategic Planning, Revenue Optimisation & Aeropolitical Affairs, …