A large-capacity air route between the Pearl River Delta in South China and the country's Northwest has opened on Thursday, allowing commercial jets to travel to and from one destination on two separate airlines.
The new 1,600-kilometer air route, called the "Guangzhou-Lanzhou Air Passage," connects new air lanes with idle ones to allow pilots to fly smoothly between Guangdong Province and the provincial capital of Lanzhou in Gansu Province, according to the Air Traffic Management Bureau of the Civil Aviation Administration of China.
The new route opened nine new air lanes to foreign airlines covering more than 2,100 kilometers.
Five air lanes were added for domestic flights covering a total of 497 kilometers.
This will benefit more than 400 domestic flights each day while facilitating flights to and from 32 airports in seven provincial regions along with Hong Kong and Macao, the bureau said.
The new route will serve as the main channel between the Pearl River Delta, the economic region in South China, and the Silk Road Economic Belt, the bureau said in an announcement on March 25.
Some observers also believe that this would help reduce air traffic congestion, enhance flight safety and improve punctuality.
The Beijing-Kunming and Beijing-Guangzhou routes were launched in December last year and February, respectively.
