First air route open from Shandong to Europe

Qingdao (CNS) -- The first flight connecting Frankfurt and the city of Qingdao took off on Tuesday from China's east coast.

The flight, executed by Lufthansa's A340-300 long-haul aircraft, runs three days a week. The northeast Chinese city of Shenyang is the only stopover.

Lufthansa has already facilitated airline connections from Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, Shenyang, and Hong Kong to German cities. Qingdao is its sixth destination in China.

The regional airport hub as positioned by the Civil Aviation Administration of China will be primarily serving lines to major Japanese and Korean cities.