Hong Kong, mainland China’s Urumqi to launch first direct flight route from next week in bid to connect businesses with Xinjiang region
- New round-trip flight, operated by Urumqi Air, will run once every Wednesday from May 3, shortly after Labour Day break
- Experts says launch of direct flights between Hong Kong, Urumqi important step in encouraging foreign business travellers to head to Xinjiang region
A first direct carrier flight between Hong Kong and mainland China’s Urumqi will take off next Wednesday, which aviation analysts have said could help the city take on a bigger role in bringing foreign investors to the Xinjiang region.
The new flight, which will be run by Urumqi Air, a unit of Chinese conglomerate HNA Group, will operate every Wednesday from May 3 and is expected to shave at least three hours off previous routes between the two cities.
The route’s opening was first announced by the China News Service agency and other news outlets in Xinjiang earlier this week, with further details published on the Urumqi government website on Sunday.
Law Cheung-kwok, a senior adviser at Chinese University’s Aviation Policy and Research Centre, on Wednesday said the route’s launch was an important step in encouraging more foreign business travellers to seek new opportunities in Xinjiang.
“Urumqi is the biggest commercial and financial hub in northwest China and the core city of the Belt and Road Initiative near Central Asia. Foreign investors can take advantage of Hong Kong as a transit to Urumqi directly instead of having layovers in other Chinese cities,” he said.
The belt and road scheme is an ambitious plan by central authorities to connect numerous economies in Asia, Europe and Africa into a trading network centred around China. The initiative marked its 10th anniversary this year.
Under the new service, an inbound flight will depart from Urumqi Diwopu International Airport at 10.15am for landing in Hong Kong at 3.35pm.
