Shenzhen Airlines launched its Beijing-Osaka flight on Wednesday in a bid to speed up the airlines' expansion in Beijing area.
The newly launched flight ZH9015 departs Beijing Capital International Airport Terminal 3 at 13:35 p.m. and arrives in Osaka at 17:50 p.m., while the return flight ZH9016 leaves Osaka at 19:20 p.m. and reaches Beijing at 22:15 p.m., the company said.
Osaka, Japan's second largest city after Tokyo, is a popular tourist destination and the number of Chinese visitors to Japan has been growing.
In 2014, the number of Chinese visitors to Japan reached a new record of 2.2 million with an 82 percent year-on-year surge, media reports said, noting that Chinese visitors ranked as No.3 among foreign visitors to Japan.
The Beijing-Osaka flight is Shenzhen Airlines' first international flight originating from Beijing, Su Wei, general manager of the company's Beijing branch, was quoted as saying in a statement sent to the Global Times.
Shenzhen Airlines set up its Beijing branch in 2009 and now has six planes at the Beijing Capital International Airport flying to a dozen cities, the company said.
Shenzhen Airlines may start more flights from Beijing to destinations in Northeast Asia and Southeast Asia at the end of this year, according to the company, which is based in South China's Guangdong Province.
