Recently, Veronica, a traveler from the Czech Republic, took a very special journey. On December 22, 2025, she arrived in Sanya from Prague on SCAT Airlines flight DV482. She was greeted with the highest honor in civil aviation—a water salute. Two arched columns of water shot into the sky as the plane slowly passed underneath.

Veronica, along with 115 other Czech travelers, had just become the first passengers to arrive on the Hainan Free Trade Port’s, as well as China’s, first seventh freedom of the air route.

“In the past, if we wanted to come to Hainan, we had to transfer at an airport in the Middle East, which cost more and took longer,” said Veronica happily. This new direct flight allows her to travel whenever she wants.

The seventh freedom of the air, a ‘complete third-country transport right’, means that airlines no longer must travel only to and from their home countries, allowing airlines carrying passengers or cargo from country A to operate independent routes between country B and country C.

The newly launched Sanya-Prague route is operated on a Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft by Kazakhstan's SCAT Airlines. Flight DV481 departs Sanya at 8:05 AM every Sunday and arrives in Prague at 10:20 PM. Flight DV482, departs Prague at 11:50 PM every Sunday and returns to Sanya at 12:30 PM the following day (all China Standard Time).

"This route is not only the first passenger route under the seventh freedom of the air in the Hainan Free Trade Port, but also the first passenger route under the seventh freedom of the air in China," said He Bang, director of the Department of Transport of Hainan Province Civil Aviation Office. He explained that thanks to the support of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), the pilot opening of the seventh freedom of the air route in the Hainan Free Trade Port is the most significant opening of air rights in the history of Chinese civil aviation.

"The opening of seventh freedom passenger routes in the Hainan Free Trade Port by Kazakh airlines is not only of special significance to Kazakhstan's civil aviation industry, but will also greatly deepen international cooperation between China, Kazakhstan, and European countries," said Darkhan Katyshev, Deputy Chairman of the Civil Aviation Committee of the Ministry of Transport of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Previously, Kazakhstan’s Air Astana had already launched two international routes: Sanya-Astana and Sanya-Almaty. "These two international routes have an average load factor of over 90%," said He Bang, adding that the routes have become important air bridges connecting the Hainan Free Trade Port and Central Asia, making travel between the two places more convenient and frequent, and strengthening cultural exchanges and economic and trade cooperation.

The opening of the Sanya-Prague route marks the first time Hainan has had a direct flight to the Czech Republic, providing another air corridor for exchange and cooperation between Hainan and Europe.

Why did the Sanya-Prague route become China's first passenger route with the seventh freedom of the air? For airlines, market demand is the core consideration.

Sanya is a key city for the development of the Hainan Free Trade Port, and Prague is an important travel destination and cultural center in Europe. This route has clear market demand, a favorable policy environment, and good conditions for the pilot launch, making it an ideal entry point for developing the seventh freedom of the air transport model,” said Vladimir Sytnik, Vice President of SCAT Airlines.

Sytnik stated that the opening of China's first seventh freedom passenger route also benefited from China's consistent and visionary policies in the field of international air transport development. As early as 2003, the Civil Aviation Administration of China approved Hainan to pilot the opening of third, fourth, and fifth freedom rights, making Hainan the first pilot province in China to open up air rights. In 2004, the CAAC further supported the opening of air rights in Hainan, allowing international airlines to enjoy stopover rights between Haikou and Sanya and all international air transport ports in the Chinese mainland, with the exception of Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. In 2020, "supporting the pilot opening of the seventh freedom right in Hainan" was included in the "Master Plan for the Construction of Hainan Free Trade Port". In the same year, the CAAC issued the "Implementation Plan for the Pilot Opening of the Seventh Freedom Right in Hainan Free Trade Port," which explicitly encourages and supports international airlines planning to operate passenger and cargo seventh freedom right routes in Hainan, in addition to existing air rights arrangements, with a maximum of seven passenger and cargo flights per week for each route.

Previously, China only opened the seventh freedom of the air for cargo to a few countries in a few cities. This is the first time that both passenger and cargo seventh freedom rights have been opened simultaneously. Hainan has become the first Chinese province to fully open the seventh freedom of the air.

"This pilot program represents the highest level of openness for China’s existing bilateral air rights arrangements, as well as the highest level of open air rights in free trade ports worldwide," said an official of the Civil Aviation Administration of China. The Hainan Free Trade Port has thus become China's most ‘open sky’.

On Dec. 18, 2025, the Hainan Free Trade Port officially launched island-wide special customs operations, implementing a liberalization and facilitation policy system characterized by ‘freer access at the first line, regulated access at the second line, free flow within the island.’ This means more and more convenience for people, goods, capital, and data from around the world entering and exiting Hainan.

Qi Qi, an expert at the CAAC High-Quality Development Research Center, believes that the Hainan Free Trade Port's widespread use of the seventh freedom of the air policy will enhance both air connectivity and convenience between the FTP and the world, benefiting more travelers in China and around the world.

As of December 23, 2025, Hainan had received 5.9 million inbound travelers YTD, a 34.6% increase compared to the record high in 2019.

According to the Department of Transport of Hainan Province, Hainan operated 99 international passenger and cargo routes in 2025, reaching Hong Kong, Macao, and 51 other cities in a total of 29 countries. The province's civil aviation passenger throughput reached approximately 50 million in 2025, a 54% increase compared to the beginning of the 14th Five-Year Plan period, while cargo and mail throughput reached approximately 320,000 tons, a 50% increase compared to the beginning of the 14th Five-Year Plan period.

With the opening of this route, by the end of 2025, Sanya had opened a total of 42 international routes reaching 32 international destinations. Sanya Airport's annual international passenger throughput reached 932,900, a year-on-year increase of 45.1%.

Industry insiders believe that with the substantial breakthrough in opening up air rights in the Hainan Free Trade Port, more international airlines are expected to use the seventh freedom of the air to operate new routes, enhancing Hainan's role as a hub on the global air route network as well as the efficiency and delivery capacity of Hainan's passenger and cargo connections with the rest of the world.

For domestic airlines operating international routes to Hainan, this presents both pressure and motivation. In the long run, the seventh freedom of the air policy will help expand Hainan's aviation market, increase passenger numbers, and revitalize Hainan's civil aviation and tourism markets, while accelerating the realization of a modern, comprehensive transportation system that ensures ‘free and convenient transportation’, providing strong support for the high-quality development of the Hainan Free Trade Port.