First direct flights between Chongqing, Finland

A plane from Helsinki, capital of Finland, landed at Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport on Thursday, marking the launch of the first direct flights linking southwestern China to northern Europe.

The service, operated by Finnair, involves four direct flights by an Airbus 330 aircraft every week.

Flight from Chongqing to Helsinki takes off at 9:40 a.m. (Beijing time) and arrives at 2:05 p.m. (local time) every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, while flight from Helsinki to Chongqing takes off at 5:30 p.m. (local time) and arrives at 7:10 a.m. (Beijing time) every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

Finland is one of Europe's most important aviation hubs, and Helsinki has more than 40 air routes connecting it to over 50 cities across Europe.

Passengers from inland Chongqing can transfer flights at Helsinki to those cities within about two hours.

Finnair has launched three flight in China before, including services to Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong.

Currently 15 passenger international and regional airlines fly to and from Chongqing, serving destinations including Doha, Phuket, Maldives, Taichung and Kaohsiung, and 15 cargo airlines serve destinations including Hong Kong, Taipei, Moscow and Luxembourg.