Kazakh Airline to launch new route to Northwest China's Urumqi

Kazakh airline Air Astana would begin new services between the central Asian country's capital and northwest China's Urumqi City early next month, the company said Wednesday.

The flight services, using an Airbus-320, would be provided three times per week from July 2, the company said.

The current two Air Astana routes, from Astana to Urumqi and from Almaty to Beijing, cannot meet passengers' demands amid the increasing cooperation between China and Kazakhstan in social, political, cultural and economic fields, said Air Astana President Peter Foster.

Foster said the new flight would inject new vitality for the development of bilateral trade.

Sun Linjiang, Consul General of China in Almaty, said the consulate issued more 130,000 visas for Kazakh people last year. The number of passengers traveling between the two countries reached 500,000.

Air Astana opened the Almaty-Beijing flight service in December 2002 and the Astana-Urumqi route in November 2008.