Air China will fly to Cuba starting in May

The state airline of the People's Republic of China,Air China, a route to the Cuban capital will begin operating next May, the official agency announcedLatin Press.

The announcement comes two days after the conclusion of theII International Transport and Logistics Fair which was held at the Pabexpo fairgrounds in Havana, between April 3 and 5, attended by executives from that Asian airline.

According to the X profile of the Cuban Aviation Corporation S.A. (CACSA), the president of that entity,Joel Beltran Archer Santos, met “with representatives of Air China, an airline that will begin operations next May,” although without specifying an exact date.

Since last year,The Chinese tourism agency Tumei began the promotion of Cuba as a tourist destination in the Asian nation, after it was included among the first 20 countries approved to resume group travel.

Rodrigo Wen, vice general manager of the company, described this as a "good time to work and increase the promotion" of Cuban attractions, and announced a trip to the island to recover thevacationer flows which was interrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Among the plans to facilitate travel, it was foreseenreestablish air connection through Air China and open new routes with the support of Hainan Airlines and other local airlines.

The aforementioned agency, together with the Cuban Havanatur,signed in March 2023, in Havana, a memorandum of understanding with the interest of "promoting the arrival of tourists to the largest of the Antilles to enjoy the reliable and safe destination," indicated a note from theCuban News Agency (ACN).

Chinese officials who toured the capital, Varadero, Cienfuegos and Trinidad, indicated, at that time, that they had understood the concept of "Unique Cuba" and had discovered "new places of special attraction such as the city of Baracoa, in Guantanamo."

Since 2015, commercial flights between Beijing and Havana were inaugurated, becoming at the time the only direct link between China and the Caribbean. Three times a week, and with a flight duration of 20 hours, an Air China Boeing 777-300ER arrived at the José Martí International Airport, making a stopover in Montreal, Canada.

Even in 2017,An office of this airline was opened in the Cuban capital, with the purpose of promoting greater exchange in the tourism sector between both countries.