HANGZHOU, July 31 (Xinhua) -- An air route linking the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou and Dubai, a city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), was launched on Wednesday, marking the official introduction of Emirates, one of the world's leading airlines, to Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport.
The first flight on the route arrived at Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport at around 3:24 p.m. on Wednesday. The route, operated by Emirates, is served by a Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, with daily flights starting from Thursday, said the airport.
The outbound flight EK311 will depart from Hangzhou at 12:10 a.m. Beijing Time and arrive in Dubai at 4:55 a.m. local time. The return flight, EK310, will take off from Dubai at 9:40 a.m. local time and arrive in Hangzhou at 10:00 p.m. Beijing time.
Hangzhou's vibrant cross-border e-commerce ecosystem and abundant sci-tech industry resources are highly compatible with Dubai's positioning as a free trade port, said Li Xun, general manager of Emirates in China.
The launch of the new route will create more opportunities for cooperation between the two cities in the fields of digital economy, international trade and passenger travel, according to Li.
After the new route's launch, the total number of flights between Hangzhou and Dubai will increase from three to 10 per week, according to the Hangzhou airport. ■
