Air China will launch its first flight to Sao Paulo of Brazil via Madrid at 1:00 a.m. Sunday morning, marking the debut flight connecting China with South America.

 

The Boeing 767-300 aircraft will be operating on the route. On Thursday and Sunday, the newly-launched flight will fly 12 hours and 45 minutes from Beijing to Madrid, then after 1.5 hours of stopover, it will reach Sao Paulo in 11 hours and 50 minutes.

 

In recent years, the number of passengers between China and South America has been increasing. There were 53,000 passengers flying from China to Brazil last year, up 24 percent compared with the previous year.

 

The new route is also the only direct flight course connecting China with Spain.

 

Experts said the new route will provide more convenience for passengers as well as cargo communication of China, Spain and Brazil.

 

(Xinhua News Agency December 11, 2006)