An Airbus 340-600 jetliner took off at Pudong International Airport in Shanghai for Melbourne, Australia, on Monday, marking the start of direct air service between the two cities.

China Eastern Airlines sent a delegation aboard the first flight to the Victoria State, Australia, to participate in a ceremony for the launch of the direct air route.

Under an agreement between the airlines and the government of Victoria State, the Shanghai-based airlines will offer the direct air service every Monday and Thursday.

Before the new service, the airlines ran flights between Shanghai and Sydney five times a week.

Australia has become one of the hottest tourist destinations for Chinese citizens with growing government and non-governmental exchanges between the two countries in recent years.

China Eastern Airlines alone reported a 7-percent increase in income from services to Sydney so far this year, despite the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome earlier in the year.

(People's Daily December 16, 2003)