(Yicai) April 17 -- China Southern Airlines, the country's largest passenger carrier, has completed the maiden regular direct passenger flight between China and Saudi Arabia.

An Airbus A330-300 carrying 240 passengers took off from Beijing Daxing International Airport at 3.10 p.m. yesterday and arrived at the King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh about 10 hours later, according to China Southern.

The route will later include round-trip flights every Tuesday and Saturday to promote the development of the economy, trade, culture, and tourism between China and Saudi Arabia, China Southern pointed out.

The Beijing-Riyadh route is the 14th international direct route Guangzhou-based China Southern operates from the Daxing airport. Other destinations include London, Amsterdam, and Moscow. The airport, Beijing's second international one, opened in 2019.

China's civil aviation sector continues to recover from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, with a significant rebound in the number of international flights this year.

The number of air passengers in China jumped 38 percent to a record 180 million in the first quarter from a year earlier, according to data the Civil Aviation Administration of China released yesterday. Those on international routes reached 14.1 million, recovering to 78 percent of 2019's level.

The CAAC has approved the applications of 122 domestic and overseas airlines to run international passenger flights during the Summer-Autumn flight season from this month to the end of October, the civil aviation authority told Yicai previously. The carriers will operate 12,656 flights to 66 countries and regions a week.

Editor: Martin Kadiev