Greater Bay Airlines is steadily transforming from a niche Hong Kong value carrier into a serious regional connector, and its newest move is one that will pique the interest of adventurous travelers. The airline has announced a scheduled service linking Hong Kong with Hohhot, capital of Inner Mongolia, with flights beginning in February 2026. For travelers, this route is more than another dot on the map. It is a direct air bridge from one of Asia’s most cosmopolitan hubs to a grassland city rich in nomadic culture, Buddhist heritage, and wide open skies. If you are planning a trip through Hong Kong or considering a deeper exploration of northern China, this new connection could reshape your itinerary.
Greater Bay Airlines: A Young Carrier With Big Regional Ambitions
Founded in Hong Kong and having launched its first services in July 2022, Greater Bay Airlines has quickly built a network that reflects the territory’s role as a regional crossroads. From a standing start, the airline has woven together routes connecting Hong Kong with key cities in mainland China, Japan, Taiwan, Southeast Asia, and select emerging leisure destinations across the region. Its fleet of Boeing 737 aircraft has been deployed on short and medium haul services, aimed at both cost conscious leisure travelers and business passengers looking for direct links to secondary cities.
In the last two years, the airline has made a clear push into mainland China. It added Zhoushan and Huangshan as early mainland destinations, then pushed further inland with services to Yichang, gateway to the Three Gorges region. In 2025, Greater Bay Airlines introduced new routes to Zhangjiajie and Guilin, two of China’s most iconic landscape destinations, followed by Quanzhou and Xuzhou. Each move has extended Hong Kong’s reach beyond the usual coastal hubs and into historically rich, nature heavy destinations that were once the preserve of long rail journeys or indirect flights.
This steady expansion has not been without challenges, including periods of flight disruption and the operational complexities of rapid growth. Yet the overall strategy is unmistakable. Greater Bay Airlines is positioning itself as a specialist in linking Hong Kong with high potential, often underserved destinations across greater China and nearby Asia. The new Hong Kong to Hohhot service fits this pattern perfectly and signals a deeper commitment to connecting travelers with the cultural and geographic diversity of northern China.
For travelers, the rise of a young carrier with a strong regional focus means more choices, more competitive pricing, and increasingly direct links between Hong Kong and cities that previously required multiple connections. It also means that an itinerary centered on Hong Kong no longer has to be limited to the traditional triangle of Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. With Greater Bay Airlines, Hong Kong is evolving into a springboard to grasslands, karst mountains, historic canals, and inland river ports.
Hong Kong to Hohhot: A New Air Bridge to Inner Mongolia
The launch of direct flights between Hong Kong and Hohhot, beginning in early February 2026, marks Greater Bay Airlines’ first scheduled service into Inner Mongolia. Operating multiple round trips each week between Hong Kong International Airport and Hohhot Baita International Airport, the route provides a regular, time efficient link between the subtropical South China Sea and the northern grasslands.
Hohhot is the capital of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and a city often described as a grassland gateway. It blends Mongolian, Han Chinese, and Buddhist influences, and sits only a short distance from expansive grassland parks and historic temples. The airline is positioning the route as a way for Hong Kong based travelers and international visitors transiting through the city to experience a very different side of China without the need for complex connections.
Travelers who have previously considered Inner Mongolia may recall that reaching Hohhot typically involved domestic transfers via Beijing or other northern hubs, with added logistics and time. The new nonstop service cuts out that intermediate step. Travelers can now board a flight in Hong Kong and arrive in Hohhot the same afternoon or evening, depending on the schedule, ready to begin exploring the city’s temples, markets, and nearby grasslands with minimal fatigue.
This air bridge is strategic for both sides. For Hong Kong, it bolsters the city’s status as a gateway to northern China’s lesser known destinations. For Hohhot and Inner Mongolia’s tourism authorities, it opens the door to a broader pool of international travelers who might not otherwise make the extra effort to visit. For the traveler, it translates into a practical new option when weighing where to go after a few days enjoying Hong Kong’s harbor views and urban energy.
Why Hohhot and Inner Mongolia Are Suddenly on the Travel Map
Hohhot is not a new city, but it remains a fresh name for many international travelers. The city has a history stretching back more than 2,000 years and has been recognized as a National Historic and Cultural City within China. Its long standing temples, old city lanes, and museums tell a story of frontier trade, Buddhism, and cultural interaction between Mongolian and Han communities.
Among its most notable landmarks are Dazhao Temple and Xilituzhao Temple, historic monasteries that showcase Tibetan Buddhist architecture and art in an urban setting. The Five Pagoda Temple, with its intricate stupa style structure and carved Buddhist imagery, is another frequently highlighted stop on city tours. Saishang Old Street offers a different atmosphere, with low rise historical buildings, snack stalls, and small shops that hint at Hohhot’s commercial past.
Yet for many visitors, Hohhot’s greatest allure lies just beyond the city. Around 20 kilometers to the northeast lies the Chilechuan Grassland, a landscape that earns the city its reputation as a grassland metropolis. Here the concrete gives way to wide fields, rolling green in the warmer months and golden in autumn, interspersed with grazing horses and traditional style yurts. This proximity allows travelers to pair temple visits with half day or full day excursions that feel worlds away from city life.
Inner Mongolia as a broader region offers experiences that complement Hohhot’s urban and near rural attractions. Festivals celebrating Mongolian culture, horseback riding, traditional music and dance performances, and seasonal activities on the grasslands are increasingly promoted to domestic and international tourists. With a direct Hong Kong link, these experiences become more accessible to stopover travelers, family groups, and independent adventurers who might wish to combine urban Asia with a taste of nomadic heritage and big sky landscapes.
How This New Route Changes Trip Planning From Hong Kong
The immediate benefit of Greater Bay Airlines’ Hong Kong to Hohhot service is logistical. Instead of building a complex itinerary involving separate bookings, domestic transfers, or overnight stops in other cities, travelers can now plan a relatively seamless journey: arrive in Hong Kong, enjoy the city, then continue directly to Hohhot. On the return, they can fly back to Hong Kong in time to connect with onward long haul services to Europe, North America, or Southeast Asia.
For travelers structuring multi city trips, this opens new patterns. A visitor might spend three or four days in Hong Kong, fly to Hohhot for a long weekend on the grasslands and temple circuits, and then return via Hong Kong to head onward to Bangkok, Tokyo, or Taipei, all on carriers that operate frequent services from the territory. Instead of dedicating a full China trip solely to major eastern hubs, travelers can now insert an Inner Mongolian chapter into a broader Asia itinerary.
Time efficiency is particularly important for travelers with limited vacation days. A direct regional flight of only a few hours allows them to land by late afternoon, check into a hotel, and begin exploring that same evening. For families, the convenience of a single boarding process and straightforward transfer in Hong Kong, rather than navigating a large inland hub, can reduce stress and uncertainty. Business travelers who may have meetings in both Hong Kong and northern China also gain a more direct path between the two.
Additionally, the presence of a value oriented carrier on this route may put some gentle pressure on fares, especially when compared with itineraries that previously relied on connecting services. While final pricing will depend on season, demand, and sales campaigns, travelers interested in the route should monitor fare trends as the launch date approaches, as new routes often come with introductory promotions.
Connecting With Greater Bay Airlines’ Growing China Network
To fully understand what the Hong Kong to Hohhot route can mean for your next trip, it helps to view it in the context of Greater Bay Airlines’ broader mainland China network. Over the past two years, the airline has stitched together a collection of destinations that together form a kind of alternative map of China, highlighting scenic and historically rich cities beyond the better known megacities.
From Hong Kong, travelers can now reach Zhoushan, a coastal archipelago near the mouth of the Yangtze River, as well as Huangshan, famed for its granite peaks and misty pine forests. Yichang offers access to the Three Gorges region of the Yangtze, while Guilin and Zhangjiajie are synonymous with spectacular limestone karsts, river landscapes, and forested sandstone pillars. More recently, Quanzhou and Xuzhou have joined the network, adding historic port and Han dynasty heritage cities to the mix.
Hohhot fits into this pattern as the airline’s northernmost foray into China’s inland regions and its first into Inner Mongolia. For the traveler, this opens up multi city combinations within mainland China that are still centered around Hong Kong. It becomes plausible, for example, to fly from Hong Kong to Guilin for river landscapes, then onward to Hong Kong and up to Hohhot for grasslands and Buddhist heritage, before returning to Hong Kong for an international departure.
Although Greater Bay Airlines’ network is still developing, the thread connecting these routes is clear. The carrier favors destinations that combine distinctive natural scenery, cultural depth, and growing tourist infrastructure. For travelers who enjoy crafting itineraries that move beyond the obvious, keeping an eye on this network and its seasonal adjustments can yield creative multi stop journeys with Hong Kong as the main gateway.
Practical Considerations: Timing, Seasons, and Trip Length
When planning a trip that includes Hong Kong, Hohhot, and the Inner Mongolian grasslands, timing is crucial. Inner Mongolia experiences cold, dry winters and pleasantly mild summers, with strong seasonal contrasts. For most travelers, the ideal window for grassland visits runs from late spring through early autumn, when temperatures are comfortable and the fields are green or golden rather than snow covered.
By contrast, Hong Kong’s subtropical climate brings hot, humid summers and a cooler, drier season from roughly November to March. If you hope to pair cool air and open skies in Hohhot with comfortable sightseeing conditions in Hong Kong, consider planning for late spring or early autumn, when weather in both destinations tends to be relatively moderate. Those drawn to winter festivals or snow covered steppe scenes in Inner Mongolia should be prepared for low temperatures and pack accordingly, even if Hong Kong remains relatively mild.
Trip length is another key factor. A flexible but realistic structure might be nine to twelve days: three or four days in Hong Kong, three or four in Hohhot and the grasslands, and additional time to include a third destination served by Greater Bay Airlines, such as Guilin or Zhangjiajie. Shorter trips are certainly possible, especially long weekends focused purely on Hohhot from a Hong Kong base, but travelers should remember to account for travel days and the desire for unhurried time on the ground.
Finally, consider how you want to balance urban and rural experiences. Hong Kong offers dense, vertical energy, while Hohhot and its surrounding grasslands offer horizontal space and a slower, more contemplative pace. Building in at least one buffer day between city and steppe, perhaps by keeping an evening in Hong Kong free of fixed plans after returning from Inner Mongolia, can help you adjust physically and mentally before onward travel.
Who Will Benefit Most From This New Connection
Different types of travelers will see different advantages in Greater Bay Airlines’ new Hong Kong to Hohhot route. Adventure inclined visitors who have already ticked off China’s major cities may be the first to seize on the chance to explore Inner Mongolia with fewer logistical hurdles. For them, the appeal lies in direct access to grassland landscapes, Buddhist temples, and culturally distinct communities that contrast sharply with coastal metropolises.
Families seeking a varied educational experience for older children or teenagers may also find this route compelling. A journey that includes Hong Kong’s museums, harbor, and urban hikes alongside Hohhot’s temples, grassland excursions, and exposure to Mongolian culture can be both memorable and instructive. The relative simplicity of a nonstop flight reduces the stress of navigating large inland hubs with children and luggage in tow.
Business travelers and members of the Chinese diaspora who maintain connections in both Hong Kong and northern China gain an additional option as well. Direct flights can shorten travel time between meetings or family visits, while also making it easier to invite overseas colleagues or relatives to experience Inner Mongolia as part of a broader Asia trip.
Finally, travelers who value value focused airfares and are flexible with dates may benefit from the competitive pricing that often accompanies new routes. While fares will fluctuate with demand and seasonality, those who monitor sales and book ahead are likely to find opportunities that make an Inner Mongolian side trip more accessible than in the past.
Planning Your Next Trip Around Greater Bay Airlines’ Network
For your next trip, the key takeaway from Greater Bay Airlines’ expansion into Hohhot and Inner Mongolia is simple. Hong Kong is evolving from stopover city to strategic hub for exploring a broader swath of greater China’s landscapes and heritage destinations. The new route invites you to think beyond the standard city pairings and to imagine itineraries where a single international gateway unlocks temples, karst rivers, canyon bridges, and wide grasslands within a single vacation.
As you plan, start by defining your priorities. If you are drawn to nature and open spaces, consider pairing Hohhot with Guilin or Zhangjiajie to experience both grasslands and dramatic mountains. If historical towns and religious architecture interest you more, Huangshan, Quanzhou, and Hohhot together can paint a varied picture of China’s cultural tapestry, linked through Hong Kong.
From there, build in the practical elements: season, length of stay, and the balance of city and countryside. Keep an eye on schedule updates from Greater Bay Airlines, as frequencies and exact departure times may shift with demand and regulatory approvals. Allow enough time in Hong Kong itself, not only as a transit point, but as an essential part of the trip, with its harborfront promenades, neighborhoods, and culinary scene offering a lively counterpoint to the calm of the grasslands.
Ultimately, the new Hong Kong to Hohhot service is more than a new line on an airline route map. It is an invitation to reimagine how you use Hong Kong as a base, and a chance to fold Inner Mongolia’s vast skies and rich culture into your next journey through Asia. If you are looking for a trip that feels both connected and off the beaten path, this new connection may be the link you have been waiting for.