After nearly three years of discontinuing direct flights to China from Mexico, Hainan Airlines (HU) may be looking to resume passenger flights between the two countries. This week, Mexico’s Embassy in China reported that Hainan Airlines may resume service between Beijing International Airport (PEK) and Tijuana International Airport (TJX) (TIJ).
Mexico and China lost all connectivity in early 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the midst of a contentious competition with Emirates over the Barcelona-Mexico City route, First Aeromexico (AM) suspended its commercial flight between Mexico City International Airport (MEX) and Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG) in late 2019.
Following that, Hainan Airlines and China Southern Airlines (CZ) cancelled their flights to Mexico (Beijing-Tijuana and Guangzhou-Vancouver-Mexico City, respectively). Both countries went from having seven flights per week (three by Aeromexico, two by Hainan, and two by China Southern) to zero over the course of two years.
For the Mexican aviation industry, the Asian segment has been the slowest to recover; for example, Aeromexico has only recently announced the return of flights to Tokyo, Japan, and has yet to restore connectivity to Seoul, South Korea. Shanghai, on the other hand, was permanently discontinued in 2019 after years of service for the Mexican carrier.
Nonetheless, it appears that connectivity between Mexico and China is resuming.