China Northern Airlines (CNA) opened a new passenger air route linking Changchun, capital of northeast China's Jilin Province, to Tokyo, capital of Japan, on Sunday.

The flights are once a week on Sunday, taking off from Changchun at 8:45 a.m. and leaving Tokyo at 12:25 p.m. and shortening the travel time between the two cities from more than five hours to less than three hours, said Liu Chun, an official with the CNA.

Passengers will be provided with services in three languages, Chinese, English and Japanese, said Liu.

Before this air route opened, in northeast China, only Shenyang and Dalian, both in Liaoning Province, had direct flights to Tokyo, and this air route will promote communication and cooperation between Japan and northeast China provinces, including Jilin, Heilongjiang and Liaoning, said Qiao Zhengzhong, vice governor of Jilin.

(Xinhua News Agency March 30, 2004)