HAINAN Airlines opened a direct flight between Shenzhen and Zurich, Switzerland, yesterday.

It is the first direct flight between Guangdong Province and Switzerland.

A Boeing 787 will fly this route twice a week. The flight departs from Shenzhen on Mondays and Fridays at 1:20 a.m. and arrives in Zurich at 7:55 a.m. The return flight departs from Zurich on the same days at 11:40 a.m. and arrives in Shenzhen at 5 a.m. the following day.

The airline previously operated two to three weekly flights between Beijing and Zurich from May 2011 to January 2012.

China is the third-largest trade partner of Switzerland, following the European Union and United States, while Switzerland is an important European country for exporting technology to China. The opening of the Shenzhen-Zurich route will not only bring more business, trade and tourism opportunities for Chinese travelers in the Pearl River Delta region, but will also be helpful in enhancing high-level cooperation in trade and new energy between the two countries, the airline said.

It is the seventh intercontinental route operated by Hainan Airlines in Shenzhen following routes to Brussels, Madrid, Brisbane, Vancouver, Cairns and Auckland. The opening of the Zurich route brings the total number of international flights to 46. (Han Ximin)