New long-haul air services will change region’s relationship with the world

Air China has confirmed that it will inaugurate a Beijing to Havana air service on December 27.

The flight which will extend the airline’s relatively new, three times a week, Beijing to Montreal service, will take about twenty hours in all to reach Cuba, involves a three hour stopover in Canada, and uses an extended range Boeing 777-300ER aircraft. The service, which has fifth freedom rights, is allowed to pick up passengers in Canada for travel to Cuba, and forms a part of an eventual longer term business approach by Air Canada to create with Air China a trans-Pacific joint revenue-sharing venture

The new link will be the first same-plane service to bring Chinese visitors and business people directly into the Caribbean. For China and Cuba the route will be strategically important given the two countries’ close ties. It will also demonstrate China’s growing presence and role in the