Hainan Airlines to enter under-served Beijing-Chicago market with 787 service

Privately owned Hainan Airlines intends to be the first Chinese carrier to enter the Beijing-Chicago market with launch of services in Apr-2013 with the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. It will be Hainan's second route in the US, after Beijing-Seattle, and third in North America with the carrier also serving Beijing-Toronto.

While both American Airlines and United Airlines serve the Beijing-Chicago market, American Airlines is disadvantaged as it has unideal slots at constrained Beijing, which limits connections.

As a result, its performance has lagged that of United and its own performance between Chicago and Shanghai, where it has more practical slots. American has partially compensated by carrying more cargo, from which Hainan also stands to benefit.