Chinese Ambassador to Portugal Cai Run thinks a new direct air service will mean more travel between China and Portugal, Xinhua reports.
The Chinese government-run news agency says Mr Cai said so during a press conference in Lisbon at which Beijing Capital Airlines of China announced that it would start on August 30 thrice-weekly return flights from Lisbon to Beijing via the central Chinese city of Xi’an.
The report quotes Mr Cai as saying: “Sino-Portuguese cooperation in various fields – ranging from investment and trade to tourism, culture and education – will usher in new opportunities and broader developments.”
The new service will also spur business between China and the Portuguese-speaking world, and between China and its partners in its Belt and Road scheme, the report quotes a leading figure in the Portuguese tourism industry, Luís Araújo, as saying.
The new service replaces a service between the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou and Lisbon via Beijing, which Beijing Capital Airlines stopped last October, Xinhua says.
