Hainan Airlines awaiting final approval for Beijing-Dublin service launch: Avolon

Avolon CEO Dómhnal Slattery stated Hainan Airlines plans to launch Beijing-Dublin service with final government approvals pending (Irish Independent, 23-Sep-2017). The planned route has been in development for over 12 months. Mr Slattery also noted that Ireland needs to significantly expand its diplomatic presence in China if it is to capitalise on opportunities the country presents.
"The size of our representation, diplomatically, in China is de minimis", he said. "(Denmark's) trade and diplomatic representation is about 100 times larger than Ireland's. That's just not good enough. There are 1.4 billion people in China who want to drink Irish milk and eat Irish meat. We need to be the primary supplier there".