Air China on Wednesday launched five new air routes linking its inland regions to Europe and the United States, sources with the airways said.

Starting Wednesday, passenger flights will fly from Qingdao, a coastal city in east China's Shandong Province, almost every day to Frankfurt, Paris and Los Angeles via Beijing.

Qingdao, popularly known as "beer city", has been running 16 airlines to Japan, Republic of Korea and Southeast Asia.

It is now the fifth city in China that provides direct flights to Europe and the United States.

Another two air routes will transport passengers from Chengdu, the capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province to New York and San Francisco, according to the southwestern branch of Air China.

More flights are expected to start operation soon, linking the region to Frankfurt, London, Vancouver and Los Angeles.  

(Xinhua News Agency September 29, 2005)