Air routes to link Chengdu with Mauritius, Sri Lanka

China's southwestern city of Chengdu is expected to launch direct air routes with Mauritius and Sri Lanka in February next year, local authorities announced on Sunday.

Chengdu will be the fourth Chinese city following Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong to have direct air routes with Mauritius, according to a press conference organized by the Sichuan provincial government's information office.

The Chengdu-Mauritius route, the first route to link the provincial capital with Africa, will open on Feb. 5.. Air Mauritius will fly the 10-hour route.

Air China will fly the Chengdu-Colombo (capital of Sri Lanka) route every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday since Feb. 10.

Chengdu, a commercial hub in southwest China, currently has 241 routes, including 78 international routes, linking the city with 187 cities worldwide. The Chengdu Internatinal airport received about 34.7 million passengers in the first 11 months this year.