Air China to Commence Beijing-Mumbai Nonstop

BEIJING, Aug. 19, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Air China will commence Beijing-Mumbai nonstop service on October 25, 2015. As the forthcoming only service from Mainland China to Mumbai, it will spare passengers departing from Beijing for Mumbai the trouble of having to make a detour by transferring in Hong Kong, Singapore and Bangkok and make it much easier to get to the "Gate of India". The one-way flight takes about seven hours.

As India's largest seaport and an important hub of transportation, Mumbai has earned its reputation as the "Gateway in the West" of India. As India's center of commerce and entertainment, Mumbai is India's response to Manhattan, is home to Bollywood and boasts myriad World Heritage sites like the grottos on Elephant Island. Along the indented coast of the Mumbai Bay is a mixture of traditional and modern buildings, which, like a string of glimmering pearls, make the "Princess of India" even more charming.

As two BRICS countries, China and India have long had close political, economic and people exchanges and in recent years, inbound and outbound travelers of the two countries have been on the rise. From January to November 2014, bilateral trade volume experienced a 9% year-on-year increase. while in September of the same year, the two countries released a joint declaration on exploring new areas of cooperation through strategic economic dialogue and beginning the "China-India Cultural Exchanges Plan". In 2015, the two countries hosted "India Tourism Year" in China, and in 2016 will host 'China Tourism Year" in India. The new Beijing-Mumbai service will go a way towards meeting the ever increasing market demand for air services in the fields of economy, trade, tourism, culture and people exchanges.

In 2015, Air China is continuing to build its world-spanning route network with its hub in Beijing, and, at the same time, with the "One Belt, One Road" Initiative proposed by the Chinese government in mind, has started and will start more routes serving the countries along the "One Belt, One Road". Examples of the routes include Beijing-Minsk-Budapest opened in the first half of the year and Beijing-Islamabad-Karachi, Beijing-Kuala Lumpur, Beijing-Colombo, Beijing-Johannesburg and Beijing-Addis Ababa to be opened this October.

In this new era when China and the countries along the "One Belt, One Road" are jointly mapping out the future for the six major economic corridors, Air China's Beijing-Mumbai service is an important part of the endeavor to build the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Corridor. The service will increase the Asian-Pacific destinations Air China serves to 17, and bring the number of nonstop flights between China and India up to eight a week. It will make it much easier for both Chinese business and leisure travelers departing from Beijing for India to get to Delhi and Mumbai, cities whose developed transportation systems provide easy access to other Indian cities and tourist destinations. At the same time, the service will also offer an additional easy and fast option for travelers to fly from India and other parts of the Asia Pacific region to other parts of the world via Beijing.

About the Flights

The Beijing-Mumbai flights, CA889/890, are operated four times a week on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. The outbound flight departs from Beijing at 19:40 Beijing time and arrives in Mumbai at 01:00 local time the following day; the return flight departs from Mumbai at 02:30 local time and arrives in Beijing at 11:20 Beijing time.

The Beijing-Delhi flights, CA947/948, are operated four times a week on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. The outbound flight departs from Beijing at 20:40 Beijing time and arrives in Delhi at 01:35 local time the following day. The return flight departs from 02:50 local time and arrives in Beijing at 11:25 Beijing time.

About Air China

Air China is China's only national flag carrier and a member carrier of the world's largest airline network - Star Alliance.

By Jul 2015, Air China had a fleet of 523 passenger aircraft and freighters of mainly Boeing and Airbus families (including those of the carriers which Air China has a majority stake in). It operates 349routes, including 87international routes, 16regional routes and 246 domestic routes. It serves 168 cities in 35 countries and regions, including 58 international cities, 4 regional cities and 106 domestic cities. Every week, Air China offers over 1.47 million seats on over 7700 flights per week.

Utilizing its extensive route network and its hub in Beijing, especially after its admission to the Star Alliance, Air China can fly passengers to 1,328 airports in 195 countries.

PhoenixMiles, Air China's customer loyalty program created in 1994, is Asia's only frequent flyer program shared by a number of carriers.

Air China's customer service philosophy revolves around four elements: credibility, convenience, comfort, and choice. Hard work over the years has resulted in a tremendous increase in Air China's brand value. In 2013, Air China ranked again as one of the world's top 500 brands with a brand value of RMB 91.899 billion, and was the only Chinese carrier on the World Brands 500 list.

For more, visit Air China's official website www.airchina.com.

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SOURCE Air China

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