HAIKOU, May 7 (Xinhua) -- A new direct air route linking Haikou, capital city of China's southernmost island province of Hainan, and London in Britain was launched on Wednesday.

The route is operated by Hainan Airlines using a Boeing 787 wide-body aircraft, with one round trip per week scheduled.

Outbound flight HU7911 departs from Haikou Meilan International Airport at 13:45 Beijing Time on Wednesday and arrives at London Heathrow International Airport at 19:30 local time the same day. Return flight HU7912 departs from London Heathrow at 22:00 local time and arrives in Haikou at 16:55 the following day, Beijing Time.

Meanwhile, the airport authority also revealed that it plans to further increase the frequency of flights between Haikou and Kuala Lumpur, capital city of Malaysia, and between Haikou and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, as part of its aim to continuously expand its network of both international and regional routes.

These efforts aim to accelerate the airport's development into a regional aviation hub serving destinations in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, while supporting the growth of Hainan as an international tourism and consumption center.■