1st non-stop flight from Egypt's Cairo to China's Hangzhou takes off

CAIRO -- The first non-stop flight from Egypt's capital Cairo to the city of Hangzhou in eastern China has taken off from the Cairo International Airport at 02:00 local time (00:00 GMT) on Friday morning.

With the flight number MS953, the flight which is launched by Egypt's flag carrier EgyptAir will spend around 11 hours in the air and land on Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport at 19:00 local time (11:00 GMT).

The flight almost carries a full cabin and the environment on the flight is quite cozy, said Fu Hangliang, a passenger on the flight.

EgyptAir announced the new flight route in October and offered a 50-percent discount for the flight valid until Nov 5 for travel from Nov 29 till Dec 31.

"The inauguration of the new routes comes within EgyptAir's interest in expanding in the Asian market and providing a distinctive service at a competitive price," said a statement on EgyptAir's official website.

EgyptAir, a Star Alliance member, has previously been operating daily flight to Guangzhou, three flights a week to Beijing and two flights a week to Chengdu.

Egypt is a favorable attraction to hundreds of thousands of Chinese tourists each year for its historical sites and sunny sandy beaches.

Nearly half a million Chinese tourists visited Egypt in 2018 compared with only 300,000 in 2017, amid expectations of more tourists visiting the Middle Eastern country in 2019, according to official statistics.