Xi'an adds new flight route to Istanbul

China Eastern Airlines Co. will launch its direct flight route from Xi'an to Istanbul starting from June 24.

This marks a new level of China-Turkiye aviation cooperation and adds a new connectivity channel for countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative.

The round-trip flight numbers for the new route are MU5025 and MU5026, with one flight on Tuesdays, Fridays, and Sundays, and a flight duration of 10 hours and 10 minutes. The MU5025 flight departs from Terminal 5 of Xi'an Xianyang International Airport at 1:50 am and arrives in Istanbul at 7 am local time. The return flight MU5026 departs from Istanbul Airport at 11 am local time and arrives in Xi'an at 1:25 am the next day.

Istanbul, situated on the border of Europe and Asia, is Turkiye's largest city. China is Turkiye's largest trading partner in Asia, and the two countries have close economic and trade exchanges. The route's opening will greatly facilitate economic, trade, and exchange between Northwest China and Turkiye, as well as surrounding European and Middle Eastern countries. The airline tickets for this route are currently open for sale.

China Eastern will continue to seize opportunities, explore emerging markets, improve the global coverage capability of the aviation network, promote the company's high-quality development, and provide strong support for the country's high-level opening-up.