Almost a year has passed since Hainan Airlines began its Beijing Capital-Boston-Brussels-Beijing Capital service. Of course, it is not quite this simple. The flight number changes in Boston, which is not among the world’s ten busiest airports, while no traffic rights exist between Boston and Brussels.
Historically, many around-the-world passenger flights operated. They were on carriers that no longer exist (most famously Pan Am) and those that still do. Even United Airlines did it, including on the Boeing 747-400, such as Los Angeles-Hong Kong-Delhi-London Heathrow-Washington Dulles-Los Angeles. Some high-end charter-type services still exist, but they’re extremely rare on a scheduled basis.
In The Run-Up To Hainan’s Around-The-World Service
Credit: Shutterstock
According to Cirium Diio data, the Chinese carrier flew to Boston between June 2014 and March 2020, when the pandemic meant it had to stop. Most airlines did, as borders closed and nations attempted to control the spread of COVID-19. For obvious reasons, Chinese operators were acutely affected.
When flights resumed in November 2023, Hainan avoided Russian airspace en route to/from the United States. It still does, just as many others do. This is partly why the world’s new longest nonstop flight is timed at an ungodly 19h 20m, although it remains to be seen if this operates without a tech stop en route.
While Hainan operated nonstop to Boston, headwinds and the vast distance meant its Boeing 787-9 flights stopped in Seattle, whose top long-haul market recently changed, en route back to mainland China. While it obviously did not have traffic rights between Boston and the Washington State airport, it already flew to Seattle anyway.
In Steps The Beijing-Boston-Brussels-Beijing Service
Credit: GCMap
Rather than stopping in Seattle en route back home, Hainan decided to do so in Belgium instead. This is not to collect passengers in the European capital but simply to refuel and change crew. Boston-originating flights cannot collect passengers in Europe. However, Hainan has a separate daily terminator service to Brussels.
The three-times-weekly service Beijing-Boston-Brussels-Beijing operation continues to run on the 292-seat 787-9. This has more economy seats than its other Dreamliner configs. The Brussels-Beijing leg does not fly over Russia. In contrast, its standalone Beijing-Brussels-Beijing flights do fly over the country. It is believed that US traffic rights are currently contingent on avoiding Russia.
Days
Leg
Schedule*
Wednesdays, Fridays, Sundays
Beijing Capital to Boston
HU729: 14:20-16:20 (15h 00m)
Wednesdays, Fridays, Sundays
Boston to Brussels
HU730: 18:40-07:30+1 (6h 50m)
Mondays, Thursdays, Saturdays
Brussels to Beijing Capital
HU730: 09:00-03:10+1 (11h 10m)
* October 7-13, 2025
Of course, it is not a ‘true’ around-the-world passenger operation. It’s really just an out-and-back service. In time, Hainan will revert to flying nonstop in both directions. It clearly wants to do so, as it will save a lot of money, inconvenience, and complexity, while increasing competitiveness.
Hainan Now Only Has 3 US-China Routes
Credit: Flickr
According to Cirium, Hainan operates Boston-Brussels-Beijing (three times weekly), Seattle-Beijing Capital (two times weekly), and Chongqing-Haikou (weekly). It has six weekly services. Before the pandemic in October 2019, Hainan had 47 weekly departures from the US back to China. They’re down by 87%.
Six years ago, in October 2019, it had these routes: Boston-Beijing (daily), Seattle-Beijing (daily), Boston-Shanghai-Chongqing (four weekly), Chicago-Beijing-Chongqing (four weekly), San Jose-Beijing (four weekly), JFK-Chengdu (three weekly), Los Angeles-Chengdu (three weekly), Seattle-Shanghai-Chongqing (three weekly), Chicago-Chengdu (two weekly), JFK-Chongqing (two weekly), Las Vegas-Beijing (two weekly), Los Angeles-Changsha (two weekly), Los Angeles-Chongqing (two weekly), and Los Angeles-Xian (two weekly).
