China Southern Airlines, the nation's largest carrier by fleet size, will on Friday launch a new service from the northeastern city of Changchun to Fukuoka in Japan.

The new Airbus A319 service will depart Changchun Monday and Friday at 8:20 AM, arriving in Fukuoka the same day at 12:00 AM local time.

Return flights will operate on Monday and Friday afternoons, according to sources with the Jilin branch of China Southern.

China Southern runs direct international services between Changchun and three Japanese cities of Tokyo, Sendai and Nagoya.

(Xinhua News Agency June 15, 2007)