Hainan Airlines on 1 December introduced daily flights on the domestic route between Harbin(HRB) in China’s north-east and Sanya, located on Hainan Island.  

At 3,476 kilometres it sets a new record for the longest domestic airport pair served in China, beating the 3,375-kilometre route from Shenzhen to Urumqi, also operated by Hainan Airlines. 

A330-300s will serve the route. This becomes the airline’s 15^th route from Harbin and 18^th route from Sanya. Harbin Taiping International Airport handled 10.26 million passengers in 2013 making it China’s 23^rd busiest airport, while Sanya Phoenix International Airport handled 12.87 million passengers in 2013 ranking it 19^th in China.