China Southern Airlines said its inaugural flight from Beijing to Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, on Tuesday was a success and marked the launch of the first direct passenger air route from mainland China to Saudi Arabia.

According to the carrier, flights on an Airbus A330-300 airliner will be operated on Tuesdays and Saturdays. The aircraft will depart from Daxing International Airport in Beijing at 15:10 local time and land at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh at 20:10 local time. The flight duration will be about 10 hours.

At the same time, the return flight will depart Riyadh at 22:10 local time and arrive in the Chinese capital at 12:00 the following day. The duration of the return flight will take about 8 hours and 50 minutes.

Zhang Dongsheng of China Southern Airlines' marketing department said that in recent years, cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative has brought practical results: China and Saudi Arabia continue to deepen economic, cultural and tourism cooperation.

He said the opening of a regular direct air route will further promote humanitarian and trade and economic exchanges between the two countries.