The carrier will start services on June 12, operating from Dublin to Beijing four times per week.

On two of these days, the service will be non-stop between Dublin and Beijing and on the other two days, flights will operate with a stopover in Edinburgh.

Direct Beijing-Dublin flights will operate on Thursdays and Sundays. Flights will depart Beijing at 01:30, arriving in Dublin at 06:00. Direct Dublin-Beijing services will operate on Tuesdays and Saturdays and will depart Dublin Airport at 11:10, arriving in Beijing at 05:00 the following day.

Beijing-Edinburgh-Dublin services will operate on Tuesdays and Saturdays. Flights will depart Beijing at 01:30, arriving in Dublin at 09:10 via Edinburgh.

The Dublin-Edinburgh-Beijing service will operate on Thursdays and Sundays, departing at 08:00 and arriving in Beijing via Edinburgh at 05:00 the following day.

Last year, about 120,000 passengers travelled between Ireland and mainland China, with journeys to and from Beijing accounting for more than a quarter of those trips. Ireland is the largest travel market in Europe for Chinese traffic that does not currently have a non-stop flight.

Simon Coveney, deputy head of the Irish government, said: “This first ever direct route to mainland China and the first Irish destination in Hainan Airlines’ international network is a major achievement, which will prove transformational to the bilateral relationship between China and Ireland.”