China Eastern Launches New Xi'an- Hanoi Route

DALLAS — Shanghai-based China Eastern Airlines (MU) will begin biweekly flights between Xi’an Xianyang International Airport (XIY) and Hanoi Nội Bài International Airport (HAN) on August 30, 2024.

China Eastern is part of the Skyteam Alliance, and this new route will allow passengers to transit via Vietnam’s second busiest airport (by passenger traffic) to fly domestically within Vietnam with fellow Skyteam member Vietnam Airlines (VN).

China Eastern's A320 Deployment

The carrier will operate the Airbus A320 on this route, of which the airline has 263 in its fleet. MU’s A320 can seat 158 passengers, 150 in economy class and eight in business class. The airline has a high yearly passenger turnover, with over 130 million flown in 2019; this new route will only increase that figure.

Further, the XIY-HAN will allow for an increase in the number of tourists arriving in Vietnam from China, which was measured at 1.6 million in the first five months of 2024.

According to a recent OAG estimate, Chinese airlines will have frequencies in summer 2024 that are more than 50% higher than those in summer 2023 in seven out of nine regional markets.

Frequency to North America has increased 191% season over season, yet it is 81% behind Summer 2019. Based on pre-pandemic data from Summer 2019, there has been an increase in frequency in four regions:

• Central Asia + 120.3%
• Eastern/Central Europe +26.9%
• Western Europe +13.2%
• Middle East +59.3%