Hainan Airlines official pleased with response to Las Vegas-Beijing flights
It’s been just more than a month since Las Vegas got its first nonstop service to mainland China.
Officials say service levels didn’t start with a bang, but that was expected, and booking levels are on track.
The nonstop service to mainland China is from Hainan Airlines, China’s largest privately owned commercial air carrier. Nonstop service between Las Vegas and Beijing began Dec. 2.
Joel Chusid, Hainan’s U.S. executive director, said he is generally pleased with outbound service levels.
Chusid did not give service levels for December, but looking ahead he said January will shape up to be “pretty much as expected,” running about two-thirds to three-quarters full.
He said the airline is happy when flights are 80 percent full on average, which translates to about 170 seats on a Beijing-Las Vegas Hainan Airlines flight.
“We had one flight over 90 (percent full), a couple at 90 (percent full), and we got some in the 80s and the 70s,” he said. “We haven’t had any empty flights.”
He said service levels in February are slated to get a boost from travelers intending on flying early and leaving late for the Chinese New Year, which starts Jan. 28.
“I see quite a bit of people going back (to China from Las Vegas) the first couple weeks of February,” he said. “We’re running pretty close to full, we’re up in the 80s there.”
It will take time to grow demand because Las Vegas is a relatively new destination for China, he said.
“There is still work to be done. You don’t just put a plane in the air and assume people are going to book it. People have alternatives of where to go,” he said. “We are working to make sure Las Vegas is in the forefront.”
Chris Jones, chief marketing officer for McCarran International Airport, said via email that it’s too early to judge the airline’s performance.
“Passengers on the plane are only one element of success,” he said, adding that not enough data has come in yet, including how much the airline is profiting.
Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority spokeswoman Heidi Hayes also said it’s too early to gauge the airline’s impact from a tourism perspective.
Contact Nicole Raz at nraz@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4512. Follow @JournalistNikki on Twitter.
