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HARBIN, June 16 (Xinhua) -- A charter route between China's northeastern province of Heilongjiang and Alaska in the United States will be upgraded to be a regular route, local authorities said Wednesday.
The round-trip, operated by Russia's Ural Airlines with an Airbus A320 once a week, will begin in September, said Hou Wei, deputy head of Heilongjiang's tourism development commission.
The route will link Harbin City, capital of Heilongjiang, and Anchorage in Alaska, with a stop in the Russian port city of Magadan.
The route, which takes six-and-a-half hours each way, is the shortest linking China and the United States.
The regular service is likely to boost tourism between the two popular destinations, Hou said.
The governments of Heilongjiang and Alaska established friendly relations in 1985. The charter route was launched in 2013.
