Staff members at Taiyuan Wusu International Airport celebrate the launch of the new Taiyuan-Moscow service, July 9. [Photo/sxrb.com]

A regular flight directly linking Taiyuan in Shanxi province with Moscow in Russia was launched on July 9.

Operated by Russia’s I-FLY Airlines, the Taiyuan-Moscow service is served using an A330 aircraft, and is scheduled to fly once a week.

The flight from Taiyuan to Moscow will take 8 hours and 35 minutes. The return flight will last 7 hours and 15 minutes. With the new service, Shanxi residents are able to get to Moscow 5 hours earlier than before.

More regular direct intercontinental air services between Taiyuan and North America, Australia and Europe will also be opened to further enhance the opening up of the city.

According to Taiyuan Wusu International Airport, three air routes, namely Taiyuan-Haikou-Sydney flights operated by Hainan Airlines, Taiyuan-Pudong-Chicago flights operated by China Eastern Airlines, and Taiyuan-Chengdu-Saint Petersburg/Copenhagen flights operated by Sichuan Airlines, will start operating from the airport during 2018.