Lufthansa will launch flights from Frankfurt to the Chinese port city of Qingdao via the northeastern city of Shenyang next March.

The German carrier has served Shenyang previously and resumed its service to the city in a bid to expand its presence in the dynamic Chinese market.

The three times-weekly flights, served by Airbus A340 with a seating capacity of 266 passengers, will start on March 26, 2012, departing Frankfurt for Shenyang on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 22:15, arriving at 14:30 the following day, before continuing on to Qingdao at 15:50, arriving at 17:25.

The return leg will depart on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at 21:05, landing in Shenyang at 22:45, before continuing on to Frankfurt at 00:15 the following day, landing back in Germany at 05:30.

Qingdao is one of China's most popular beach resorts with a population of about 8.5 million. The city is of key importance to the oil-refining industry and goods traffic in the entire Shandong Peninsula on China's eastern coastline due to its deep-water harbor. The port is the third largest in China and the ninth largest worldwide.