Sanya Airport completes first duty-free domestic flight refuel

Hainan Airlines flight HU7280 loaded 7.938 tons of duty-free aviation fuel at Sanya Phoenix International Airport on July 29. It represented the first time that a domestic flight used duty-free fuel at the airport, a milestone event on Sanya's vision to become a regional aviation hub in the Hainan Free Trade Port.

The use of duty-free aviation fuel is a pivotal policy of the Hainan FTP, allowing domestic flights to be exempt from customs duties, value-added taxes and consumption taxes. It significantly lowers operational costs for airlines and is set to attract more domestic and international carriers to expand and increase routes to Hainan. This in turn will boost passenger trips and cargo flows, injecting sustained energy into the development of the regional aviation hub.

To ensure the policy's effective implementation, Sanya Phoenix International Airport has beefed up its coordination across departments to ensure essential services like apron management and on-site safety oversight.

By refueling in groups and post-hoc declarations together, the airport has created an efficient oversight system and has greatly improved its operational performance.

Staff members pose for a group photo at Sanya Phoenix International Airport, to celebrate the refueling of the first domestic flight with duty-free aviation fuel. [Photo/Sanya Daily]

The refueling with duty-free aviation fuel is expected to unlock the benefits of the Hainan FTP's aviation policies. As a vital gateway in southern Hainan, Sanya Phoenix International Airport is keen to seize the strategic opportunities by actively collaborating with airlines, both domestically and internationally. By expanding its domestic and international flight networks, the airport aims to maximize the advantages of the FTP's policies, bolster the core competitiveness of the regional aviation hub and contribute to the high-level opening-up and high-quality development of the aviation industry in the Hainan FTP.