The China Eastern Airlines opened a direct flight between Beijing and Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, on Wednesday, the first of its kind since the two countries signed bilateral civil aviation contract in 1980.

The Beijing-Kunming-Dhaka flight with a one-way distance of 3,545 kilometers lasts 5.5 hours. It is available at 10:50 a.m. in Beijing on every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. Before reaching Dhaka, it will stop over at Kunming, capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province.

Boeing 737 and 767 aircraft have been designated to fly the route.

The airlines began market and field investigations on the new air route in late March and reached an agreement with Bangladeshi side in April.

(Xinhua News Agency May 19, 2005)