dailynewsnblog
In recent years, one of the most interesting long-haul routes in US aviation has been Hainan Airlines’ service from Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK) to 
Boston Logan International Airport (BOS). While the outbound leg operates nonstop, the return flight makes a technical stop at Brussels Airport (BRU) in Belgium. The result of this is a mammoth 36-hour round-the-world itinerary, although, now, things are about to change.
Indeed, scheduling data from AeroRoutes shows that, at least during the summer, the return leg will operate without a Brussels stopover, rendering Hainan Airlines’ Beijing-Boston corridor a regular back-and-forth route. That said, there are a few stipulations to this seasonal alteration.
The End Of An Era
Simple Flying has previously covered Hainan Airlines’ 36-hour round-the-world route from Beijing to Boston and back via Brussels extensively, with our analysis finding that the carrier initially served this route nonstop, without the Belgian stopover, from 2014 to 2020. Then, COVID-19 stopped it.
By the time that Hainan Airlines was ready to resume flying to Boston following the global health crisis in November 2023, the aviation sector looked rather different, with the inability to use Russian airspace being a major obstacle. With this in mind, its flights back to Beijing stopped at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA), before switching to Brussels. However, Hainan Airlines is now preparing to remove this stopover during the summer.
This alteration shouldn’t affect the passenger side of things, as the flights were unable to pick up or drop off passengers in Brussels; instead, the stop was for refueling and a crew change. Still, it brings the era of Hainan Airlines’ 36-hour round-the-world flights to an end, at least for now. Will they ever come back?
Nonstop Operations
According to Aero Routes, the new nonstop return leg from BOS to PEK will operate for almost three months, from June 3 to August 30 of this year. The service frequency will remain the same, with three weekly flights. Passengers flying on this route can expect departures on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays each week.
The outbound leg from Beijing to Boston will retain the same flight number and timings, with HU729 departing the capital city of China at 1:20 PM local time and arriving at Logan at 4:40 PM, some 15 hours and 20 minutes later. However, removing the Brussels stopover will save hours on the return leg.
HU730 currently leaves Boston at 6:40 PM, lands in Brussels at 7:30 AM the next day, takes off again at 9:00 AM, and finally reaches Beijing at 2:10 AM another day later. End-to-end, this represents a journey time of 19 hours and 30 minutes. However, the nonstop operation of HU730 will only take 16 hours. Indeed, after departing Boston Logan International Airport at the usual time of 6:40 PM, it will reach Beijing at 10:40 PM the next day.
Southwest Airlines’ Most Popular Boston Routes By Seat Count
Five out of the six destinations have multiple daily flights scheduled.
What’s It Like On Board?
According to AeroRoutes, Hainan Airlines’ aircraft of choice on this route is the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, a popular US-built widebody twinjet. Present fleet data made available by aeroLOPA shows that the carrier has multiple two and three-class seating layouts for this model, ranging in capacity from 289 to 294 passengers. However, not all of these seats are made available for purchase, particularly on the return leg from Boston.
Indeed, data from Cirium, an aviation analytics company, shows that flying from Beijing to Boston, 286 seats are available: all 30 in business class and 256 of the 259/262 economy seats (depending on the layout). This minor discrepancy, however, pales in comparison to the return leg, where only 160 economy seats are on sale, a cut that likely suggests that the range of the 787 is being pushed to the max by winds and/or airspace closures.
