Hainan Airlines, China's fourth largest carrier, recently announced that it is scheduled to launch an air service between Beijing and Zurich in Switzerland on May 31, 2011.

The new service will be the airlines' fifth direct route to Europe, following its links from Beijing to Budapest, Brussels, and Berlin, and from Shanghai to Brussels.

The airline will offer three round trip flights on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays. Flight 7957/7958 leaves Beijing at 01:50 and arrives in Zurich at 07:05. The return flight departs from Zurich at 13:20 and arrives in Beijing at 05:20 the following day.

Hainan Airlines is the seventh five-Star airline globally and it is the first airline in mainland China to earn the honor. It has opened more than 500 air routes, covering cities in Asia, Europe, America, Africa, and Oceania.