China's Wuhan resumes direct flight to San Francisco

A direct air route linking Wuhan and San Francisco resumed on Saturday, according to China Southern Airlines, the flight's operator.

A Boeing 777 aircraft carrying 283 passengers took off from Wuhan Tianhe International Airport at 3:30pm (Beijing Time), marking the resumption of the first direct passenger flight between central China and the United States following the COVID-19 pandemic.

The outbound flight CZ659 leaves Wuhan at 3:10 pm (Beijing Time) every Saturday and arrives in San Francisco at 11:55am local time.

The return flight CZ660 takes off from San Francisco at 12:55 pm local time and arrives in Wuhan at 6:40pm (Beijing Time) the next day, the company said.