Chinese airline to operate direct flights to Turkey

China Eastern Airlines will launch a direct flight route between Shanghai and Turkey's Istanbul on September 28.

It will be the first direct flight route operated by a Chinese airliner between the two cities.

Currently, only Turkish Airlines, the flag carrier airline of Turkey, operates direct flights between Shanghai and Istanbul.

The China Eastern flights, MU703/704, will fly every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. The outbound flight will take off at 1:30am Beijing time from the Shanghai Pudong International Airport and land at the Istanbul Airport at 8:30am local time. It will be convenient for travelers to start their journey in Turkey, or take other flights to Europe and Africa.

The return flight will depart from Istanbul Airport at 2pm local time and land at 5:30pm Beijing time the next day at Pudong Airport.