URUMQI: A direct air route between Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in northwest China and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region was launched on Wednesday.
On Wednesday morning, a Boeing 737-800 passenger aircraft took off from Diwopu International Airport in Urumqi, the capital city of Xinjiang, and arrived in Hong Kong after more than five hours, marking the successful maiden flight via the new route, according to Urumqi Air, the flight operator.
The air service is scheduled to depart Urumqi at 10:15 a.m. every Wednesday and arrive in Hong Kong at 3:35 p.m., while the return flight leaves Hong Kong at 4:35 p.m. and arrives in Urumqi around 10:20 p.m., said Urumqi Air.
The new air route will further facilitate the daily travel of residents, business communication and other exchanges between the two regions, said the operator.
Urumqi Air said it also plans to launch international air routes to destinations such as Bangkok, and cities in Central Asia and West Asia.
Meanwhile, More than 100 domestic and foreign buyers have signed intended deals worth 570 million yuan ($82.46 million) at the third phase of the 133rd China Import and Export Fair, commonly known as the Canton Fair, for cotton textile products sourced from Northwest China’s Xinjiang region.
Representatives from more than 30 Xinjiang-based companies promoted 300 cotton textile products from the cotton-rich region to domestic and foreign buyers, Guangzhou-based news site ycwb.com reported over the May Day holidays.
The deals, signed at a time when a number of US politicians continue to spread “forced labor” lies about cotton from China’s Xinjiang region, offer another rebuke to the US crackdown on the vital industry, experts said on Wednesday. –Agencies
