The Singaporean carrier, Jetstar Asia is gearing up for a resumption of services between Singapore and Haikou as of the 29th of April this year.
The resumption of China services has gained a lot of fanfare after a three-year-long hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The re-launching of Chinese operations is prepped in time for the Golden Week Labour Day long weekend.
Jetstar Asia has been forecasting that it will expect to carry more than 70,000 customers each year between the two islands and two popular destinations.
The airline is expected to operate the route for weekly flights to meet up the long-awaited pent-up demand between the two ends.
A Fruitful Resumption
To mark the resumption of flights to China, Jetstar Asia has launched a special one-way fare from Singapore to Haikou as low as SGD128.
Jetstar Asia’s Regional General Manager for Southeast Asia and Greater China, Xu Haibing commented that Jetstar Asia was looking forward to the highly anticipated resumption of its long-awaited return to China.
“Haikou was the very first Chinese city Jetstar Asia flew to in 2009 and as the first international airline to provide low-cost travel to customers in China, we have a long-standing relationship with the city of Haikou,” Mr. Xu said.
“Nearly 15 years later, Haikou remains an important port for Jetstar Asia and a popular destination for our customers, including the many Singaporeans with Hainanese heritage.”
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“And for our customers from China, they will not only enjoy direct flights to Singapore, the ‘Garden City’ but seamless connectivity to our expanding network of incredible Southeast Asian countries including Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Jakarta, Denpasar, and Surabaya.”
“By re-establishing this route, combined with our great value fares, we look forward to helping reconnect families and friends, as well as supporting the recovery of the tourism industry.”
Jetstar Asia’s Chief Executive Officer, Barathan Pasupathi noted that the milestone was very important and said that the relaunch marks an impressive comeback:
“Last month we relocated our operations to Terminal 4 at Changi International Airport to help support our plans for future growth while ensuring our customers continue to enjoy a fantastic customer experience in our new home at the global hub,” Mr. Barathan said.
“We’re delighted that less than a month later, we can announce the restart of our services to Haikou.
“China remains a critical market and as we continue to expand our network and our fleet, we look forward to offering our customers more fantastic low fares to more incredible leisure destinations.”
Lim Ching Kiat, Executive Vice President of Air Hub & Cargo Development at Changi Airport Group is very optimistic about the resumption of service, and that the passenger level between Singapore and China will keep on going. He stated:
“The restoration of Jetstar’s Singapore-Haikou service will provide more options for travelers between China and Singapore. In recent months, airlines are progressively resuming flights to and from China.”
“The recovery of Singapore-China flight frequency is currently at around 40 percent of pre-Covid19 levels, and we look forward to welcoming more Chinese tourists to Singapore this year.”
Flight Schedule
The Singaporean-based low-cost carrier will fly the route on Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, will depart Singapore at 7:25 am, and will be arriving on the Chinese Island, of Haikou at 11:05 am. On the returning leg from Haikou, the airline will depart at 12:00 PM and arrive in the lion city at 3:30 PM.
When will the airline return to its pre-pandemic heydays?
Before the pandemic, the airline was flying to six destinations in mainland China including Haikou, Shantou, Sanya, Xuzhou, Guiyang, and Taipei.
The resumption of flights to Haikou is a great stepping stone for the airline to test the Chinese market. Slowly but surely, the Chinese air market is recovering robustly after three years of the pandemic hiatus.
