CHENGDU, March 15 (Xinhua) -- China's Sichuan Airlines plans to launch a direct air route linking Chengdu, the capital city of southwest China's Sichuan Province and Istanbul, Turkey, the airlines announced.

The new flight, expected to open on April 30, will fly every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday with Airbus A330, the airlines said.

Transportation time between the two cities will be shortened to 10 hours after the launch of the direct flight. The outbound flight will depart from Chengdu at 2 a.m. Beijing time and arrive in Istanbul at 7 a.m. local time. The returning flight will leave Istanbul at 9:45 a.m. local time and land in Chengdu at 11:35 p.m. Beijing time.

The flight is expected to boost tourism between southwest China and Turkey.