China's Northwest Airlines has recently begun a new temporary charter flight service from Shanghai to Sapporo, Japan, according to local officials.

According to an official with the Gansu Branch of the company, the twice weekly international air route service operates between the cities each Wednesday and Sunday.

The new service, which began on December 31 last year, using A320 aircraft, enables convenient connection between the two Asian metropolises

The traveling time for the air route, which will be discontinued on March 24, is about four hours.

(Xinhua 01/04/2001)