At around 1:00 am on July 6, flight TW621 from Seoul, South Korea, arrived in Sanya with 125 passengers on board. This marks the end of a three-year hiatus of the Sanya-Seoul international passenger route. It is the first international route to resume since the completion of the Sanya International Terminal.
Direct flights from Sanya to Seoul will operate twice a week. The inbound flight, TW621, departs from Seoul at 8:35 pm every Wednesday and Saturday, and will arrive in Sanya at 1:20 am the following day. The outbound flight, TW622, departs from Sanya at 2:20 am every Thursday and Sunday, and will arrive in Seoul at 7:05 am the same day.
According to the spokesperson of the Sanya tourism board, flight reservations from Seoul to Sanya on Saturday, July 8, are near full capacity. Sanya has seen a year-on-year growth rate of 77 percent in tourist arrivals from South Korea from January to May.
"The opening of the Sanya-Seoul international route will promote closer exchanges between China and South Korea in the fields of economy, trade, culture, and tourism," said the spokesperson of Sanya Phoenix International Airport.