A 98-seat Brazil-made ERJ-190 plane took off from an airport in north China's Tianjin Municipality for Ulan Bator, capital of Mongolia, on Tuesday, marking the opening of the first international air route operated by the city's local airliner.
Tianjin Airlines Ltd., a regional carrier set up by Hainan Airlines Group and the Tianjin city government, was authorized by Civil Aviation Administration of China to operate domestic trunk routes and some regular passenger and cargo flights to Hong Kong, Macao and surrounding foreign countries in June.
To date, the company has opened 130 domestic air routes, most of which are branch lines operated by small airplanes such as Fairchild-Dornier 328, ERJ-145 and ERJ-190.
The company now offers two-way flight services on the new route twice a week, on Tuesdays and Saturdays.
The flight has a stopover in Hohhot, capital of north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The single journey takes two hours and 50 minutes at the fare price of 2,900 yuan (about 437 U.S. dollars).
Tianjin is the nearest sea port to Mongolia. According to the website of China Civil Aviation Resources, all of Mongolia's marine cargo is handled via Tianjin port.
