A direct air route was launched Thursday between Zhengzhou, capital of Central China's Henan province and Osaka, Japan's second-largest city.

The route, operated by Spring Airlines, uses an Airbus A320 aircraft and has three flights per week on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

The flight departs from Zhengzhou at 2:55 pm. Beijing time and arrives at Osaka at 6:55 pm local time. The return flight departs Osaka at 10:20 am local time and reaches Zhengzhou at 1:55 pm Beijing time.

The maiden flight, welcomed by passengers, was 97 percent full, as spring often sees a large number of Chinese visiting Japan, according to Henan province Airport Group.

Over 8 million Chinese tourists visited Japan in 2018, up 13.9 percent year-on-year.