Passengers traveling between China and Japan have a new route as regular flights became available between Yantai City of Shandong Province and Osaka of Japan beginning from Sunday.

The 1,500-km new air route is the shortest air passage between Chinese cities and Osaka, a China Eastern Airlines official said Tuesday.

Airbus 320 passenger planes of the company will fly between the two cities on Thursdays and Sundays, departing Yantai at 12:00 p.m. (Beijing time) and arriving in Osaka at 2:15 p.m., and departing Osaka at 3:15 p.m. and arriving in Yantai at 5:30 p.m. the same day.

Yantai airport now operates 36 domestic and international air routes.

(Xinhua News Agency November 12, 2003)