BEIJING -- An A330-model aircraft belonging to Air China, the country's flagship carrier, took off from Beijing at 12:40 am Wednesday and made its way to the city of Athens, signaling the resumption of flight services between China and Greece.
The duration of the twice-weekly flight will be 13 hours and 25 minutes, according to Feng Run'e, vice president of Air China. Feng said that Air China is the only Chinese airline with a China-Greece route.
The carrier originally launched service to Athens in 2007, but halted the service in 2009 at the height of the global financial crisis.
The strengthening of bilateral trade between China and Greece, the global economic recovery and the swift growth of the Chinese economy all created demand for resuming the route, Feng said.
Feng added that with the resumption of the China-Athens route, Air China now has 13 European flights.
