An air route has been opened between Kashgar, in southern Xinjiang and Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates, Kashgar authorities announced on Tuesday.
An A320-200 plane, which flew from Sharjah, landed at the Kashgar airport on Monday afternoon, inaugurating the first flight on the route. Planes leave Kashgar on a weekly basis.
The three and half hour flight is the shortest among all air routes between China and the UAE. Sharjah is 20 kilometers (12 miles) from popular tourists' destination Dubai.
It is also the only route between Kashgar and Middle East countries.
"The flight will further connect and boost commerce, logistics, tourism and cultural cooperation between Kashgar and western Asian countries," said Xu Jiming, director of the foreign affairs office in Kashgar.
Previously, flights had to go via Xinjiang capital Urumqi or Beijing.
