A Boeing-737 taking off at Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport at 2:20 PM Sunday opened a daily Shenzhen-Shanghai-Osaka flight.

The same day also saw a daily Tokyo-Shanghai flight extended to Shenzhen.

"This is Shenzhen's first ever flight to Osaka," Sun Yude, vice president of Air China Ltd., which is responsible for operating the flight. He was speaking at a brief ceremony at the airport before the plane's departure.

The flight departs Shenzhen daily at 2:20 PM and arrives at Osaka at 8:15 PM local time. The return flight leaves Osaka at 9 AM local time and reaches Shenzhen at 1:25 PM.

The flight takes five hours and 45 minutes, with a 50-minute stopover in Shanghai.

Shenzhen's Osaka-bound passengers can check luggage and clear customs at Shenzhen airport. Exit procedures are completed at Shanghai.

Sunday also saw a Tokyo-Shanghai passenger flight extended to Shenzhen, according to Kang Jinrong, a spokesperson for the Shenzhen Airport Group. She said this was only a one-way flight. While a passenger can reach Shenzhen from Tokyo after a stopover in Shanghai, there were no flights to Tokyo from Shenzhen. She said the Tokyo-Shanghai-Shenzhen flight arrived at the Shenzhen airport at 8 PM each day.

Statistics from the Japanese Consulate in Guangzhou show Guangdong has about 6,000 registered Japanese people. But a consulate source said the number was not accurate, as many Japanese did not register with the consulate.

The source estimated several thousand more Japanese lived in Shenzhen and surrounding areas and most return to Japan through Hong Kong.

Before the Shenzhen-Shanghai-Osaka flight, the Shenzhen airport had opened return flights to Singapore, Taipei and Bangkok. Meanwhile, there are cargo flights to the United States, South Korea, the Philippines, Malaysia, Taipei, and Belgium.

In another development, Shenzhen Airlines has announced 55-percent discount airfares for passengers who book seven days in advance on its 35 flights. The flights are from Shenzhen to Beijing, Shanghai, Wuhan, Kunming and Dalian.

The offer will be effective from Monday to January 10, 2005. Each of the 35 flights will have a quota of 10 people eligible for the discounted fares. People can call 95080 or go to the airlines' ticket offices to apply.

 (Shenzhen Daily November 1, 2004)