Qionghai Boao Airport in China's southern Hainan province, is set to open to commercial traffic in time for the opening of the upcoming Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) on March 22.

Earlier this month, the new facility successfully completed quality assurance tests for the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) with Hainan Airlines (HU, Haikou) conducting a trial flight from Beijing Capital on Wednesday, March 17.

The airport was built specifically for BFA traffic and features a 2,600m-long main runway and a 9,000sqm terminal building capable of handling 480,000 passengers per annum.

Modelled on the annual World Economic Forum held in Davos, Switzerland, the Boao Forum for Asia is a high-level conference which brings together leaders from government, business and academia in Asia and other continents, to address issues affecting the region and the world at large. This year's BFA2016 event runs from March 22 to 25 and for its duration, Hainan Airlines will operate two charter services from Beijing and Shenzhen.

Post BFA2016, Hainan Airlines will offer flights linking Bo'ao with hub cities such as Beijing, Shanghai Pudong, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen.