newstodate.aero
Sep 11, 2018 (newstodate): Norway's hopes to see a Chinese carrier opening scheduled flights from Oslo Airport seem to be still vividly alive.
The HNA Group's Hainan Airlines has thus applied for, and obtained slots at Oslo Airport from the coming winter schedule, allowing for daily rotations on the route between Oslo and Beijing with Airbus A330-200 aircraft.
Already in December 2017, Hainan Airlines applied with the country's regulator CAAC for license to operate five weekly flights to Oslo, including three weekly rotations between Beijing and Oslo and two weekly rotations on the route between Oslo and Shenzhen, close to Hong Kong in southern China.
Pending final approval by all authorities involved, flights from Beijing were tentatively planned to start from April 2018, with flights from Shenzhen to launch from May 2018.
None of these plans have materialized, but at least the airline has now landed approval from the Chinese regulator for start of services between Beijing and Oslo, and with the slots allocation at Oslo, lights are green on the Norwegian side as well.
Flights to China are top priority on Norway's wishing list - for a very long time, and not least the country's exporters of seafood to the Chinese market are longing for a direct route out of Oslo Airport to avoid transfers of the temperature-sensitive shipments at other airports.
It thus seems that Norway may indeed get not just one, but two flights from Oslo to China as Ethiopian Cargo is deep into plans for offering all-cargo flights from Oslo to Guangzhou with a Boeing777-200F routed from Addis Abeba to Lagos, in Nigeria, to Oslo, and continuing to Guangzhou via a stop at Liege to load other European shipments, especially low-density goods for China.
Wasting no opportunity to press for the Norwegian case, Avinor's Director Cargo & Route Development Martin Langaas is attending World Routes in Guangzhou from September 15 - and Norway's royal couple is spearheading a delegation visiting China in October 2018.
The HNA Group's Hainan Airlines has thus applied for, and obtained slots at Oslo Airport from the coming winter schedule, allowing for daily rotations on the route between Oslo and Beijing with Airbus A330-200 aircraft.
Already in December 2017, Hainan Airlines applied with the country's regulator CAAC for license to operate five weekly flights to Oslo, including three weekly rotations between Beijing and Oslo and two weekly rotations on the route between Oslo and Shenzhen, close to Hong Kong in southern China.
Pending final approval by all authorities involved, flights from Beijing were tentatively planned to start from April 2018, with flights from Shenzhen to launch from May 2018.
None of these plans have materialized, but at least the airline has now landed approval from the Chinese regulator for start of services between Beijing and Oslo, and with the slots allocation at Oslo, lights are green on the Norwegian side as well.
Flights to China are top priority on Norway's wishing list - for a very long time, and not least the country's exporters of seafood to the Chinese market are longing for a direct route out of Oslo Airport to avoid transfers of the temperature-sensitive shipments at other airports.
It thus seems that Norway may indeed get not just one, but two flights from Oslo to China as Ethiopian Cargo is deep into plans for offering all-cargo flights from Oslo to Guangzhou with a Boeing777-200F routed from Addis Abeba to Lagos, in Nigeria, to Oslo, and continuing to Guangzhou via a stop at Liege to load other European shipments, especially low-density goods for China.
Wasting no opportunity to press for the Norwegian case, Avinor's Director Cargo & Route Development Martin Langaas is attending World Routes in Guangzhou from September 15 - and Norway's royal couple is spearheading a delegation visiting China in October 2018.