A timid sun accompanied Zhen Leisi on Wednesday morning, as she sat inside Fiumicino airport in Rome waiting for the HU 7972 flight to take her to China.
Zhen was among 113 passengers due to take seat on Hainan Airlines' inaugural flight connecting Rome to Xi'an, the capital of northwest Chinese Shaanxi Province, for the first time.
The two ancient cultural cities will be now served twice a week by the direct route, which Hainan Airlines opened after launching a first direct connection from southwest Chongqing to Rome Fiumicino airport in April this year.
The new flight offered several advantages, according to passengers.
"The ticket was cheaper than other available flights," Zhen told Xinhua.
The woman has been living in the central Italian city of Prato for eight years, and said she was now travelling to visit her hometown Wenzhou.
"Getting to Wenzhou requires me to board a connecting flight whichever carrier I take from Italy. So I decided to try this new route," she said.
"I find the schedule is very comfortable, since you depart here and arrive in China in daylight. All the other flights I know make you travel during evening or night," she explained.
The direct Rome-Xi'an flight will run Wednesdays and Saturdays with a two-class Airbus A330, departing from Fiumicino Airport at 12:40 p.m. and arriving at Xianyang International Airport at 06:00 a.m. the following day, Hainan Airlines said.
The new route would link two major points of the ancient Silk Road, Hainan vice president Hou Wei stressed.
"It will recreate the ancient connection existing between these two cities," Hou said at the inaugural ceremony held at Fiumicino airport.
"We hope it will provide new chances for Chinese entrepreneurs to have an easy connection with Rome and Italy, as well as for Italians to get to know China better," Hou said.
According to Hainan Airlines, several of its new flights were related to China-proposed "Belt and Road" initiative, which refers to the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.
Xi'an was indeed the eastern departure point of the ancient Silk Road, and one of the oldest imperial capitals of ancient China. With its precious historical heritage, including famous Terracotta Warriors, the city is a major cultural centre attracting millions of tourists every year.
As for Rome, it has become Hainan Airlines' second destination from Xi'an to Europe after Paris, and this was a choice Fiumicino Aeroporti di Roma (ADR) managing company showed to value.
"We have worked hard in latest years to attract an increasing number of Chinese passengers, and make Fiumicino a main point of entry for those willing to come to Italy," ADR Aviation Marketing Director Fausto Palombelli said.
"It is for us a great satisfaction to see Hainan airline opening two new routes to China in one year," Palombelli said.
"Our strategy has also been rewarded by the fact that all major Chinese carries (Air China, China Eastern, China Southern, Hainan) are now operating from our airport," Palombelli added.
Hainan Airlines was repeatedly awarded as Skytrax Five-Star Airline for the high quality of its services, and ranked among the world's 10 safest airlines in 2015 according to Germany-based Jet Airliner Crash Data Evaluation Centre (JACDEC), vice president Hou recalled.
The company is planning to increase the frequency of the routes from Rome Fiumicino to Xi'an and Chongqing from four to six flights overall per week in summer 2016, Hou said.
