Seattle welcomes another nonstop route to China
China’s Xiamen Airlines has become the latest international carrier to begin service at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
The airline’s first flight touched down there Monday as the carrier launched nonstop service to the Chinese city of Shenzhen. Xiamen Air is now flying three weekly Seattle-Shenzhen flights on Boeing 787-8 “Dreamliner” aircraft.
The route is Xiamen Air’s first-ever to the United States, marking a major milestone in the airline’s 32-year history.
Seattle breaks another passenger record amid Delta-Alaska turf war
“Sea-Tac Airport is one of the most connected gateways to Asia and it is an honor that Xiamen chose Seattle to launch its U.S. service,” Port of Seattle Commissioner Fred Felleman says in a statement. “Shenzhen is known as the ‘Silicon Valley’ of China and this new destination will be a tremendous opportunity for both business and leisure travelers to experience our shared values.
Xiamen Air is a member of the SkyTeam frequent-flier alliance that includes Delta, Air France and Aeromexico among its 20 members.
The service also continues a tremendous growth streak for the Sea-Tac airport, which has broken its all-time yearly passenger record for five years in a row. Sea-Tac Airport says it has been the fastest growing large hub airport in the U.S. for the past two years.
Delta expands Delta Shuttle service to Seattle
Against that backdrop, Xiamen is just the latest international carrier to expand to Seattle, which has seen new service on multiple international carriers in recent years. And coming in 2017 will be nonstop flights to Guadalajara on Mexican carrier Volaris and service to Munich on Germany’s Condor Airlines.
There’s also been a proliferation of new routes that have sprung out of a multi-year and ongoing turf war between Delta and hometown carrier Alaska Airlines.
The breakneck growth has been a welcome development for Sea-Tac, though Seattle’s KING 5 notes it has “put pressure on the airport's 50-year-old south satellite and a small, outdated customs and arrival area in the basement.”
"We really can't accommodate any new carriers during peak,” airport chief Lance Lyttle says to KING 5. "So we're looking at carriers that are flying in the off-peak hours."
That all has Sea-Tac looking at expansion plans to handle its burgeoning passenger numbers. Up next: A new international arrivals facility that’s expected to be operational by 2019.
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