New airport helps Hainan's tourism take off

For the first time, people attending the Boao Forum for Asia have been able to take flights - either direct from overseas or via connecting cities on the mainland - to the coastal town of Boao on the east side of Hainan Island, instead of having to fly into Haikou or Sanya.

"This year's forum is a little bit different from previous years," said Mao Chaofeng, executive deputy governor of Hainan province, during a news conference on the sidelines of the forum on Wednesday. "Many participants of the forum and media representatives had the chance to take a direct flight to Boao Airport, which was still an area of waste ground this time last year."

Boao Airport, which began operations on March 17, not only makes it much easier for forum participants to access the resort town but also eases the way for many tourists who visit the area. The airport is designed to be able to accommodate 480,000 passengers and handle 1,440 metric tons of cargo annually by 2020.