On Feb. 19, northwest China's Ningxia region launched its first direct flight to Hong Kong, marking the official opening of the airport in the region's capital to overseas and Special Administrative Region (SAR) flights.

On Feb. 19, the charter flight with more than 130 passengers aboard took off at 10:30am from Hedong Airport in Yinchuan, and landed in Hong Kong at 1:25pm.

A Boeing 737-300 airliner from China Eastern Airlines' Wuhan Branch undertook the flight, which returned at 2:25pm from Hong Kong and landed in Yinchuan at 5:35pm.

The first flight marked a new page in the region's opening-up to the outside, said Hei Liangjie, director of Ningxia Commerce Department.

Hedong Airport won approval to open overseas and SAR flights from the State Council in April 2005, but the region's frontier guards team was established last year for inspection work at the airport.

Regular Yinchuan-Hong Kong direct flights will officially begin in April, when there will be two flights a week from Ningxia to Hong Kong. Cargo flights from Yinchuan to Russia and Central Asian countries are also in preparation.