SANYA, China, Oct. 30, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On October 20, a passenger aircraft from Shymkent, Kazakhstan, touched down at Sanya Phoenix International Airport. A total of 156 passengers disembarked, many of whom planned to stay in Sanya for several days. Later that night, the aircraft took off again to continue its journey to Singapore.
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The Publicity Department of the CPC Sanya Municipal Committee said that this marked the inaugural flight of the new Shymkent-Sanya-Singapore route, operated by Kazakhstan's SCAT Airlines, with two flights per week. For passengers, Sanya serves as a stopover along the journey.
"This is my first visit to Sanya. The blue skies and warm weather instantly chased away the winter chill!" said Daria, a tourist from Shymkent. "We were treated to a thoughtful welcome ceremony in the arrivals hall at the airport, which was such a pleasant surprise." She plans to enjoy a week-long coastal holiday in Sanya.
For Sanya, this route brings a fresh source of inbound visitors. Located in China's southernmost province, the city is emerging as an increasingly popular destination for travelers from Central Asia. The Publicity Department noted that in the first nine months of this year, Sanya recorded 1.043 million inbound visitor arrivals, representing a year-on-year increase of 46.4 percent. Inbound tourist spending rose by 66.7 percent year on year. At present, Sanya maintains air connections with three cities in Kazakhstan: Almaty, Astana and Shymkent. Hainan Province as a whole operates five passenger air routes linking Hainan to Kazakhstan.
The growth in tourist arrivals has also driven continuous improvements to cultural and tourism services. At Sanya Joy City Shopping Mall, a currency exchange kiosk launched in April 2025 supports instant exchange of nine currencies, including the U.S. dollar, euro and British pound, with each transaction taking roughly three minutes. In many other countries, such currency exchange requires advance reservation and queuing at bank counters. In May this year, the mall rolled out full coverage of Alipay and Alipay+ digital payment services across its premises. Trilingual signage is installed throughout the mall, and multilingual customer service staff are on hand. Many restaurants now routinely provide menus in Russian.
In July this year, Sanya launched the "Passport Friendly" Initiative. Visitors holding valid foreign passports or Mainland Travel Permits for Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan Residents are eligible for discounts and service benefits at duty-free shops, hotels, scenic spots and commercial districts. The initiative will run until July 2027. Local tourism authorities project that Sanya will record over 1.5 million inbound visitor arrivals for the full year.
Contact person: Ms. He, Tel: 86-10-63074558
