A new direct air route was launched on August 2 between Guangzhou City, which is in south China's Guangdong Province and Tel Aviv, which is Israel's second-largest city. It is the first direct flight linking Guangzhou with Israel.
The new air route is operated by Boeing 787 of Hainan Airlines. There are three flights departure on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, which cuts the travel time between the two cities to around 11 hours. Hainan Airlines launched two air routes connecting Tel Aviv to Beijing and Shanghai in 2016 and 2017, respectively.
Being an excellent port on the Pearl River navigable to the South China Sea, and with fast accessibility to Hong Kong and Macau, Guangzhou City serves as the political, economic, scientific, educational and cultural center in Guangdong Province. In the first five months of 2018, the number of passengers traveling between China and Israel reached 80,000, which is expected to top 220,000 after the opening of the new route.