Shenzhen will have a return passenger flight to Kuala Lumpur from January 18, 2005.

There will be three return flights a week and it will be Shenzhen Airlines' first international flight.

The flight will leave Shenzhen at 9:45 AM., arriving at Kuala Lumpur airport at 1:05 PM local time every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. The return flight will depart Kuala Lumpur at 2:05 PM. local time and arrive in Shenzhen at 5:30 PM.

An airline source said Shenzhen Airlines would work with Air Macao and China Airlines to open more flights in the near future such as Shenzhen-Kuala Lumpur-Singapore-Hong Kong and Shenzhen-Kuala Lumpur-Bangkok-Hong Kong.

The source said opening of the Shenzhen-Kuala Lumpur route would make it easier to travel between south China and the southeast Asian region.

Shenzhen already has flights to destinations outside the Chinese mainland such as Osaka, Singapore and Bangkok. It also has cargo flights to the United States, South Korea, the Philippines, Malaysia, Taipei, and Belgium.

 (Shenzhen Daily December 10, 2004)