A direct air route linking Wuhan, capital of central China’s Hubei Province, with Moscow, capital of Russia, was officially launched by China Southern Airlines on July 30.

It was the first direct flight linking central China with Russia. So far, the number of international and regional passenger air routes setting out from Wuhan reached 30.

It was reported that passengers from 38 countries and regions as Australia, South Korea, Thailand and Russia boarded the maiden flight. Doney, a Moscow passenger, said that he got a good impression of Wuhan, and planned to come back this autumn by the direct flight.

The flight between Wuhan Tianhe Airport and Moscow Sheremetyevo International Airport took about nine hours, cutting at least five hours from the time needed with a transfer travel. The air route, operated by Airbus A330-200 aircraft from China Southern Airlines, would be served every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, with outbound and inbound flights numbered CZ355 and CZ356.

According to statistics, the bilateral trade volume between Wuhan and Russia hit 183 million U.S. dollars in 2013, among which Wuhan’s export reached 174 million U.S. dollars, an increase of 23 percent year on year.(hubei.gov.cn by Mao Huifang)