Ahead of the launch of its new service from the UK to China, expanding Chinese carrier Tianjin Airlines has appointed Rooster PR to run its UK press office and social media channels.

Rooster will be responsible for launching Tianjin Airlines in the UK and driving awareness of the airline’s new twice-weekly Gatwick service through the development and implementation of strategic, proactive and creative PR campaigns.

Tianjin Airlines, a subsidiary of HNA Group, currently operates a fleet of over 90 aircraft to more than 100 destinations throughout China from its eight hub destinations: Tianjin, Xi’an, Hohhot, Urumqi, Haikou, Sanya, Guiyang and Dalian.

Tianjin Airlines’ first ever UK route from Gatwick to Chongqing and Tianjin will launch on June 25th, 2016.

The new service will operate every Wednesday and Saturday on an Airbus A330-200 aircraft with 18 business class and 242 economy class seats.

The total flight time will be 12 hours to Chongqing and 17 hours to Tianjin.

Robert Chen, UK general manager for Tianjin Airlines, said: “We were impressed with Rooster’s proposal and are confident their extensive experience in the travel and aviation sectors will be invaluable for our UK launch.

“We are looking forward to working closely with James and his team to introduce the UK market to our quality service, and to opening up a still largely unexplored area of China.”

Tianjin Airlines will introduce three brand new A330 aircraft to expand into the international market later in 2016.