Direct flights between China's Xiamen and Myanmar's Yangon resume after COVID-19 hiatus

A commercial flight operated by China's Xiamen Airlines landed at the Yangon International Airport on Wednesday afternoon, marking the resumption of direct passenger flights between China's Xiamen and Myanmar's Yangon since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Xiamen Airlines reopened the route between Xiamen in east China's Fujian Province and Yangon in southern Myanmar with three round trips every Monday, Wednesday and Friday after it suspended all direct flights between the two cities in February 2020.

The resumption of the flights aims to boost economic and people-to-people exchanges between Fujian and Myanmar, the airlines said in a statement.

Myanmar reopened the Yangon International Airport for commercial flight services in April last year after closing for more than two years over the pandemic.

Myanmar welcomed 233,487 international tourists in 2022, with China being one of the biggest sources of tourist arrivals, official figures showed.