On the 27th, Hebei Province's first intra-provincial low-cost airline route, the Shijiazhuang-Tangshan route, officially commenced operations. The route is operated by Spring Airlines, the country's first low-cost carrier. During the initial phase of the route’s launch, ticket prices are as low as just 9 yuan (excluding fuel surcharges and the Civil Aviation Development Fund).
The newly launched route is operated by Spring Airlines’ A320 aircraft, with one flight per day. The flight number is 9C8581/2, with the following schedule: departure from Shijiazhuang at 7:40, arriving in Tangshan at 8:35; departure from Tangshan at 9:20, arriving back in Shijiazhuang at 10:10.
It is understood that currently, Tangshan only has three routes—to Shijiazhuang, Shanghai, and Guangzhou—which are far from meeting travelers' needs. Although Tangshan and Shijiazhuang are both cities within the province, the economic, trade, and daily interactions between them are frequent, yet land transportation is not very convenient. A person in charge of the Shijiazhuang branch of Spring Airlines stated that Tangshan has a developed economy and trade and represents a market with great potential for air travel. Spring Airlines hopes to attract passengers from Tangshan and surrounding areas to Shijiazhuang via air-to-air connections, and then from Shijiazhuang Airport—this low-cost hub—to various domestic and international destinations.
After the launch of this route, Shijiazhuang Airport will have a total of 15 low-cost routes, and there will be 40 low-cost connecting routes via Shijiazhuang Airport. Meanwhile, Shijiazhuang Airport will also continue to increase the frequency of flights to Qinhuangdao and Zhangjiakou. After the October 27 flight schedule change, passengers from Zhangjiakou, Tangshan, and Qinhuangdao will be able to conveniently transfer through Shijiazhuang Airport to over 50 domestic cities.
A relevant department head at Shijiazhuang Airport told reporters that, as part of the practice of making air travel more accessible to the public, Shijiazhuang Airport is actively expanding its low-cost aviation hub and focusing its construction efforts on the three regional airports in Hebei Province that are connected to Shijiazhuang Airport—Qinhuangdao, Zhangjiakou, and Tangshan.
“I hope airplanes can become as common as cars, so that everyone can afford to fly and airplanes are no longer seen as something mysterious,” said Zhang Yanjie, General Manager of Hebei Airport Management Group. Developing a low-cost hub airport is the way to truly make airports “accessible to the people” and enable more and more people in Hebei to take flights.