Las Vegas Will Get Its First Non-Stop Flights to Beijing in December

Hainan Airlines will begin flying the first non-stop route between China and Las Vegas beginning December 2, rewarding more than a decade of advocacy efforts on the part of McCarran International Airport and the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority. The three-times weekly flight between Beijing Capital International Airport and America's gaming capital will be aboard a Hainan Airlines Boeing 787 Dreamliner. According to Rosemary Vassiliadis, director of aviation for the Clark County Department of Aviation, the city's robust visitation numbers coming out of the recession, and the fact that Las Vegas isn't a hub for any of the big three U.S. airlines, factored into Hainan's decision to launch the new non-stop service. McCarran posted its fifth consecutive year of growth in 2015 with 45.4 million passenger arrivals, up 5.8 percent over 2014. As of June 30 this year, overall arrivals were up another 5.7 percent year-to-d