HAIKOU, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- The first air route connecting Haikou City, capital of south China's island province of Hainan, with Seattle in the United States via Chongqing, was inaugurated on Thursday.

One round-trip flight per week will operate on this route, with flight HU445 operated by Hainan Airlines departing Haikou every Thursday. Both the outbound and inbound flights will include a stopover in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality.

The departure flight takes off at 7:05 a.m. from Haikou and arrives in Seattle at 9 a.m. local time, while the return flight takes off at 11 a.m. local time from Seattle and arrives in Haikou at 8:45 p.m. the next day, according to the airline. ■