Air route linking China’s Xi’an with Aswan

Egyptian charter airline Air Leisure is starting a new direct route between Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, and Aswan, Xinhua reports. The first direct flight between the two cities is set to take off on 13 July and will be on an Airbus A330-200 aircraft. Xinhua says the route connects “Xi'an, the starting point of the ancient Silk Road, with Aswan, a famous tourist city in Egypt,” and that it “will help strengthen exchanges between the two cities and boost their economic development, said Xu Mingzheng, a Shaanxi tourism official.”