Chinese major carrier China Southern Airlines launched a new route on Friday linking picturesque Guiyang City in southwest China's Guizhou Province to Seoul of the Republic of Korea (ROK).

The twice-a-week flight with a Boeing 737 aircraft starts at 6 p.m. Tuesday and Friday from Guiyang Longdongbao International Airport and returns from Seoul at 9:55 p.m. the same days.

The flight takes 3 hours and 20 minutes.

A three-day sightseeing tour of ROK journalists in March prompted the opening of the route, according to local officials.

(Xinhua News Agency May 3, 2008)