Shanghai-based carrier China Eastern will give Stockholm its first non-stop service to Shanghai this summer with a new route expected to take off on June 16, 2018. The airline’s new service will operate four times per week.

China Eastern has yet to unveil the exact schedule for the flights – although Stockholm is available to select on the airline’s booking website, the flights themselves are not currently displayed.

However, industry website routesonline.com reports that the new route will operate on the following schedule:

Flight No. From To Departs Arrives
MU289 Shanghai (PVG) Stockholm (ARN) 0105 0615
MU290 Stockholm (ARN) Shanghai (PVG) 1230 0510+1

According to Swedavia Airports, which operates Stockholm Arlanda Airport, China Eastern will fly a new 262-seat Airbus A330-200 aircraft between Shanghai and Stockholm.

“China is an enormously important export market for Sweden, and there are many Swedish companies with operations established in the Shanghai region,” said Jonas Abrahamsson, president and chief executive of Swedavia.

“The new direct route between Stockholm Arlanda Airport and Shanghai is thus vital to Swedish business and will also help make Sweden and Stockholm more attractive to the growing number of Chinese visitors.”

Air traffic between China and Sweden has nearly doubled over the past 10 years and some 200,000 travellers fly between the two countries each year.

A number of airlines are targeting new routes between China and Nordic destinations. Fellow Chinese carrier Beijing Capital Airlines is set to launch new services between Beijing and Copenhagen and Helsinki in March and May, respectively.

Meanwhile, Finnair will begin flying to Nanjing in China’s Jiangsu province in May.

ceair.com