Hainan Island, often referred to asthe ‘Hawaii of China’ due to its beautiful beaches and natural scenery, has become increasingly well-known thanks to the visa exemption and the special-offer flights that have been appearing more and more frequently of late.

You can currently fly from Prague or Vienna to Sanya Airport in Hainan at a good price.

However, different visa rules apply to the two flights, at least for Czech citizens.

Generally, you can enter Hainan without a Chinese visa for up to 30 days, provided you arrive on a direct international flight.

• From Prague with SCAT for 591 eur on a huge number of dates from July until March 2027
  • This is a direct flight from abroad -> Czech citizens are eligible for visa-free entry
  • Check out David’s review of the PRG-SYX flight
• From Vienna with Hainan Airlines for 455 eur mainlyin November
  • Connecting flight via Chengdu Airport in China -> visa-free entry to Hainan cannot be used

Official information from the Chinese authorities states the exact wording for visa-free entry to Hainan as “either a direct international flight from their country or transit via a third country or China’s Hong Kong or Macao region.” 

You can find the official information here, for example:ag.china-embassy.gov.cn

This therefore does not permit travellers to fly to Hainan with a connecting flight at another Chinese airport.

This issue applies exclusively to Czech citizens.

Many European nationals, including Slovaks, Austrians and Hungarians, can travel throughout China without a visa.