NANJING, Sept. 5 (Xinhua) -- A direct air route has been launched between the city of Nanjing in east China's Jiangsu Province and Moscow, Russia, Nanjing Lukou International Airport said Wednesday.

The flight will be operated by Russia's iFly Airlines using an Airbus A330 aircraft. It is scheduled to depart Nanjing at 12:45 a.m. Beijing time every Wednesday. A one-way trip takes around 8.5 hours and the aircraft can carry up to 311 passengers.

Nanjing now has eight intercontinental flights, linking it with Frankfurt, Sydney, Los Angeles, Vancouver, Milan, St. Petersburg, Helsinki, and Moscow.