The inaugural flight of the Ulan-Ude-Sanya direct flight landed at the Sanya Phoenix International Airport at 2:05 a.m. on November 1st, 2017, carrying 161 Russian-speaking passengers on board.

The new regularly scheduled flight is jointly operated by Sanya Hao Li De International Travel Agency and Russia’s NordStar Airlines. The travel agency has now developed seven international air routes linking Sanya and Russian cities including Moscow, Novosibirsk, Vladivostok, Khabarovsk, Irkutsk, Krasnoyarsk, and Ulan-Ude. The seat occupancy rate on each flight remains above 90%, with more than 7,000 Russian visitors to Sanya every month.

In the first nine months of this year, the number of Russian tourists to Sanya reached 182,369, accounting for 37.2% of the total inbound tourist arrivals.

The newly opened air route is Sanya’s seventh international air route to open this year. The Sanya Phoenix International Airport now has 24 international air routes connecting to 23 cities.

The new flight is part of an ongoing effort by Sanya tourism authorities to boost the number of inbound visitors from Russian-speaking tourist markets.