The first flight of the Chinese airline China Southern Airlines arrived on Saturday from Xi'an (PRC) to Ashgabat (Turkmenistan), reports the Xinhua news agency.
In accordance with the information, flight CZ5085/6 Xi'an (XIY) - Urumqi (URC) - Ashgabat (ASB) will be operated every Saturday. Passengers will depart from Xi'an at 17:30 Beijing time and arrive in Ashgabat at 23:10 local time. The return flight will depart Ashgabat at 00:40 local time on Sundays and arrive in Xi'an at 12:30 Beijing time.
China Southern Airlines is the only Chinese carrier offering direct flights to the capital of Turkmenistan.
Li Jiuquan, deputy director of the Xi'an branch of China Southern Airlines, said that the majority of passengers are now traveling on business and business trips, and demand from tourists is expected to increase in the future.
Ashgabat became the fifth destination of the China Southern Airlines route network in Central Asia, including Astana (Kazakhstan), Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan), Dushanbe (Tajikistan) and Tashkent (Uzbekistan).
