HAINAN Airlines will open a direct flight between Shenzhen and Zurich, Switzerland, on Aug. 27, according to a report by the Shenzhen Special Zone Daily yesterday.

The Boeing 787-8 aircraft will operate this route twice a week. The airline previously operated two to three weekly flights between Beijing and Zurich from May 2011 to January 2012.

It will be another intercontinental route from Shenzhen to Europe operated by Hainan Airlines after the launching of flights from Shenzhen to Brussels and Madrid earlier this year.

China is the third-largest trade partner of Switzerland, following the European Union and United States, while Switzerland is an important European country for technology exports to China.

The opening of the Shenzhen-Zurich route will not only bring more business and trade opportunities and tourism options for Chinese travelers in the Pearl River Delta region, but also be helpful in enhancing high-level cooperation in trade and new energy between the two countries, the report said.

Hainan Airlines is now operating five intercontinental routes from Shenzhen to Brisbane, Cairns, Auckland, Madrid and Brussels.

Zurich, located in north-central Switzerland, is the largest city in the country.

This is the latest intercontinental air route from the Shenzhen airport following the opening of a twice-a-week direct flight to Darwin, Australia, on May 30. The opening of the Shenzhen-Zurich air route will bring the total number of international flights in Shenzhen to over 40.

In 2016 and 2017, the city opened 28 international routes including intercontinental routes to Europe, Australia and the United States. (Han Ximin)