China Eastern Airlines on Friday began a direct flight service between Shanghai and Hungary's capital city Budapest, which is being scheduled for three times a week.

The Boeing B787-9 Dreamliner of Shanghai Airlines,a subsidiary of China Eastern Airlines, was welcomed at Liszt Ferenc International Airport by the fire brigade with the traditional water canon salute, provided as a greeting to all new flights and all new aircraft types at Budapest Airport.

"We think it is a major step forward and a tremendous success that it was possible to launch the direct Shanghai-Budapest flight. We were persistently working on it together with our Chinese partners and the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade," said Jost Lammers, the CEO of Budapest Airport.

Hungarian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Levente Magyar underlined the importance of the new flight connecting Budapest to Shanghai at the launching of the new route.

"Sino-Hungarian relations have never developed with such a dynamic growth like now, and to strengthen this growth we need stable political and economic background," he declared, and recalled that in 2019 Hungary and China celebrate the 70th anniversary of establishing their diplomatic relations.

Deputy CEO for Marketing and Sales at the Hungarian Tourism Agency Anna Nemeth declared:"China is one of the most important markets for inbound tourism for Hungary. The dynamic and safe city of Budapest has become more and more popular among the Chinese tourists. The direct flights between Budapest and Shanghai will expand the scale of not just the business development plans and trade but will also increase the number of visitors in China and Hungary as well."

"This is the air bridge of deep cooperation," Tian Liuwen, vice president of the China Eastern Airlines Group, said in his speech, adding that Budapest and Shanghai are twin cities, opening this direct flight will further strengthens exchanges and cooperation between the two cities in various fields.

The non-stop flight will fly between Shanghai Pudong International Airport and Budapest Liszt Ferenc International Airport three times a week, on Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday.