CHONGQING, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- A new direct air route opened on Friday, linking southwest China's Chongqing Municipality with Budapest, capital of Hungary.

This is the first direct air service connecting Chongqing with Central and Eastern Europe.

The air service, operated by Hainan Airlines using a Boeing 787-9 aircraft, will make a roundtrip twice a week on Monday and Friday. The outbound flight leaves Chongqing at 1:40 a.m. Beijing time and arrives in Budapest at 5:30 a.m. local time. The return flight departs Budapest at 12:40 p.m. and arrives in Chongqing at 5:00 a.m. The flight time is about 10 hours.

"The Central and Eastern European region where Hungary is located is an important area of the Belt and Road Initiative. The launch of the new air route will promote exchanges and cooperation in economic, trade, culture and other fields between China and Hungary," said Liu Jichun with Hainan Airlines.