CHINA SUCCESS FOR DUBLIN AIRPORT AS NEW SHENZHEN ROUTE LAUNCHES

Dublin Airport today welcomed the launch of Hainan Airlines’ new year-round direct service to Shenzhen.

The airline will operate two flights per week between Dublin and Shenzhen, which is in south-eastern China.

Shenzhen will be Dublin Airport’s second destination in mainland China, as Hainan already operates a Dublin-Beijing service.

“We are delighted Hainan is expanding its network from Dublin by adding this second destination to China,” said Dublin Airport’s managing director, Vincent Harrison.

“Shenzhen is a really exciting destination for both business and leisure travel. The new route will further increase trade, tourism and investment between Ireland and China and expand the growing number of Chinese visitors to Ireland.”

Hainan Airlines’ general manager for Ireland, Ryan Zhang, noted: “We are proud that Hainan Airlines is playing a central role in forging greater friendship and cooperation between our two countries. We look forward to welcoming many Irish and Chinese guests on board our five-star Skytrax service.”

Hainan is operating its twice weekly route to Shenzhen on Mondays and Fridays with a Boeing 787-900 Dreamliner with 289 seats.

Hainan entered the Irish market last June when it launched a service to Beijing via Edinburgh. On alternate days the service either operates direct between Dublin and Beijing or has a stopover in Edinburgh.

Known as China’s tech hub, Shenzhen has been one of the world’s fastest-growing cities in recent decades and has a population of about 13 million.  

The city is a 30-40-minute bullet train ride away from both Hong Kong and Guangzhou and was ranked second in Lonely Planet’s Top 10 Cities to visit in 2019.