✈️ Hainan Gateways Show Cold-Hot Divergence: Sanya Business Jet Movements 8.3 Times Those of Haikou
Avi-Go data shows that in the first half of 2026, business jet movements at Sanya Phoenix reached 664, while Haikou Meilan—the core gateway of the Meilan Free Trade Port—recorded only 80, with the former roughly 8.3 times the latter. Sanya exhibits strong seasonality, surging to its annual peak of 358 movements during the February Spring Festival period, then plunging to 14 in May; Haikou, by contrast, maintained narrow fluctuations between 12 and 16 throughout the year, with a January peak of just 16. Traffic from both airports primarily flew to first-tier cities such as Beijing (71 movements), Shenzhen (41), Shanghai (34), and Hong Kong (24), with Lily Jet and Deer Jet serving as the shared leading operators. As the core gateway of the Free Trade Port, Haikou shows a clear gap between business jet activity and policy expectations.
Impact: The persistently low business jet volume at Haikou Meilan indicates that the Free Trade Port policy dividends have not yet been transmitted to the business aviation sector, leaving local FBO and ground service resources at risk of underutilization; operator resources are highly concentrated around Sanya's seasonal peaks, creating prominent idle-capacity pressure during the off-season.
Recommendation: Operators may assess Haikou Meilan's potential to attract traffic during low-price time slots in Q3 2026, piloting customized routes targeting Free Trade Port business clientele; FBOs should lock in Sanya peak-period resources ahead of the 2027 Spring Festival to smooth out the capacity gap from May to June.
Note: The causes of the activity gap between Haikou and Sanya still require further cross-verification.