"Dear Passengers: due to network layout, capacity arrangement and other reasons, Air China will stop operating CA837/8 flights of Beijing-Hawaii-Beijing route from August 27, 2019. Air China apologizes for the impact on passenger travel plans, and will actively carry out follow-up ticket service for passengers who have purchased tickets, and refund the full fare for passengers whose travel date is after August 27, 2019 (inclusive)," the carrier said in a statement.
According to fresh data by the Hawaii Tourism Authority, the number of arrivals of Chinese tourists in Hawaii declined by over 27 percent year-on-year in the first half of 2019, while the drop in June constituted 31 percent compared to June 2018. Meanwhile, daily visitor spending declined by more than 5 percent year-on-year in the first six months of 2019.
The move comes against the backdrop of trade war between Beijing and Washington. The dispute has been ongoing since June 2018, when US President Donald Trump announced he was imposing tariffs on $50 billion worth of Chinese imports in a bid to balance the trade deficit. Since then, the two countries have introduced several rounds of reciprocal tariffs.
Most recently, last week, Trump said Washington would slap 10-percent tariffs on a further $300 billion worth of Chinese imports starting September 1.
