Chengdu-Vancouver flight slated for June

Chengdu (CNS) -- An air route connecting Chengdu and Vancouver via Shenyang will be launched on June 22, announced Sichuan Airlines Tuesday. It will be the first route between a western Chinese city and another in North America.

The flight aboard an A330 will be carried out every Tuesday, Friday and Sunday, taking off in Chengdu at 9 a.m. and arriving in Shenyang three hours later. After a stopover of one and a half hours, it will leave Shenyang for Vancouver, with final arrival at 11 p.m. Beijing time.

The new route is designed to meet the demands of passengers in the southwestern provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan; the northwestern regions of Shaanxi, Gansu and Xinjiang; and also those in the northeast such as Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning.

Further travel routes will be designed to create business opportunities for the tourism industry, an insider told CNS.