Air route links Shanghai with Dubai
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2004-04-11 09:59

Beginning Saturday, Airbus planes will fly between Shanghai and Dubai, the capital of the United Arab Emirates every Monday, Thursday and Saturday and the air services will expand to daily flights from May 15.

Passengers aboard the first flight from Dubai to Shanghai include celebrities like Yang Weiguo, consul-general of China in Dubai and Tim Clark, president of the International Airline of the United Arab Emirates.

The opening of the new route makes it possible for passengers to travel between the two cities in eight hours. Previously, passengers traveling between the two cities had to change planes in Hong Kong or Xinjiang.

The new air route, using the A340-300 Airbus series, will take off from Shanghai Pudong International Airport at 23:55 (Beijing Time) and arrive in Dubai about 5:10 local time on the next day. While those flights start at about 2:15 local time from Dubai and arrive at 14"Tim Clark said it was an honor for his company to open the first passenger flight linking Dubai with the Chinese mainland and make the exchanges between the world's two fast growing markets much easier.

Statistics from the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC) showed the number of passengers traveling between China and the United Arab Emirates is growing 40 percent annually. The Emirates airline is optimistic about prospects for the new air route.

Emirates cargo flights to Shanghai started in 2002, and to Dalian in northeast China last year.

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