On September 20, flight 8B824 landed smoothly at Haikou Meilan International Airport, adding a new Haikou-Jakarta route.

TransNusa Airlines' inaugural flight to Hainan. Photo courtesy of Haikou Meilan International Airport

This is the first TransNusa Airlines route reaching the Hainan Free Trade Port. The newly opened route complements the daily Haikou-Jakarta service operated by Hainan Airlines, bringing the total weekly frequency of flights between the two cities to ten. The new route brings more travel options in support of economic and trade cooperation, cultural and tourism exchanges, and business travel, further strengthening the aerial connectivity links between the Hainan Free Trade Port and ASEAN.

TransNusa Airlines' inaugural flight to Hainan. Photo courtesy of Haikou Meilan International Airport

The new TransNusa Airlines Haikou-Jakarta route is operated on Tuesdays, Fridays, and Sundays on Airbus A320 series aircraft. Inbound flight 8B824 is scheduled to depart from Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta International Airport at 16:25 (local time) and arrive at Meilan Airport at 21:55 (Beijing time). Outbound flight 8B825 is scheduled to depart from Meilan Airport at 22:55 (Beijing time) and arrive at Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta International Airport at 02:30 (local time) the following day. Specific flight schedules are subject to official announcements by the airline.

TransNusa Airlines' inaugural flight to Hainan. Photo courtesy of Haikou Meilan International Airport

To accommodate the late night schedule of the Jakarta route, Meilan Airport has designated counters B10 (Hainan Airlines) and A13 (other airlines) in Terminal 2 as dedicated check-in counters for international and regional flights. These counters operate daily from 16:00 to 04:00 the following day, handling check-in procedures for flights departing before 07:00 and allowing passengers on late night flights to check in immediately upon arrival at the airport.

Meilan Airport plans to continue to make full use of the policy advantages conferred by the air rights associated with the Hainan Free Trade Port. Moving forward, the airport will continue expand the international route network, increase flight frequencies to key cities, optimize services for international travelers, and enhance capabilities for cross-border travel support. These measures are designed to facilitate two-way economic, trade, cultural, tourism, and people-to-people exchanges between the Hainan Free Trade Port and ASEAN nations, accelerating the development of Hainan as a regional aviation hub serving the Pacific and Indian Oceans.