Lifestyle See and do

First Hainan Airlines flight touches down in Las Vegas

Written by Ben Blaschke

Las Vegas celebrated a momentous moment in its rich history with the arrival of the inaugural flight direct from Beijing.

Carrying around 200 passengers, including travellers, media and Chinese tourism officials, Hainan Airlines Flight 7969 touched down at McCarran Airport on Friday morning local time after a trip lasting just over 11 hours.

The new regular route will operate Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and is expected to generate US$33.5 million annually in direct visitor spending. China is expected to become Nevada’s number one tourism market by 2020.

McCarran Airport has recently implemented a China Ready program which includes Chinese signage, six Mandarin-speaking ambassadors and a WeChat presence.