A new direct flight connected the central Chinese city of Wuhan with Rome on Thursday morning.
The outbound flight departs from Wuhan of Hubei Province every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at 12:45 a.m. and arrives in Rome at 6:15 a.m. the next day (local time). The return flight departs from Rome on the same dates each week at 12:35 p.m. and arrive in Wuhan at 6:25 a.m.(local time).
The new service comes after the recent introduction of direct flights between Wuhan and Moscow, San Francisco and Tokyo.
China is one of Italy's biggest sources of tourists, with the number of Chinese visitors rising by an average of 10 percent each year to 1.8 million in 2014.
The flight is operated by China Southern Airlines using a Boeing 787.
