Ben Mutzabaugh

USA TODAY

Air China this week became the first-ever Asian carrier to add regularly scheduled nonstop service to Poland.

The airline launched flights between Warsaw and Beijing on Wednesday and is now offering four round-trip flights a week on Airbus A330-200 aircraft. The planes seat 237 passengers, including 30 in business class. The flights take about eight hour on the China-bound route and about nine on the return.

"Never before has a Chinese or even Asian carrier offered direct flights to Poland," Mariusz Szpikowski, the director of Warsaw Chopin Airport, says in a statement. "It is very important for us, because we want Warsaw to occupy an important place on the route between China and Europe.

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Chinese airline and tourism officials also touted the new route, describing it as part of a new "Aerial Silk Road" between Beijing and Warsaw, according to China’s Xinhua news agency.

The Associated Press notes the new service comes amid growing Polish-Chinese connections.

“Poland is seeking to develop business, trade and cultural relations with China, whose economy is still growing quickly despite a recent slowdown,” the news agency writes. “China's businesses and companies, meanwhile, are seeking ties in Europe.”

LOT, Poland’s national carrier, already flies nonstop between the cities. LOT and Air China are partners, each a member of the Star Alliance frequent-flier group.

On Sept. 1, Air China opened a route to one of its newest U.S. destinations when it launched nonstop service between Shanghai and San Jose, Calif.

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