On September 3, 2024 at 16:00, China Southern Airlines flight CZ5091 departed from Urumqi International Airport and headed to Zvartnots International Airport in Yerevan, Republic of Armenia, marking the official opening of China's first regular route to Armenia. At this point, China has achieved comprehensive navigation with the three Caucasus countries.

The round-trip flight number from Urumqi to Yerevan opened this time is CZ5091/2, which operates every Tuesday and Saturday. The outbound flight departed from Urumqi at 16:05 Beijing time and arrived in Yerevan at 17:35 local time; The return flight departs from Yerevan at 21:50 local time and returns to Urumqi at 06:55 Beijing time.

Previously, there were no direct flight routes between the two countries, and most passengers needed to transit through Moscow, Dubai, and other places, resulting in high detour rates and long flight times. After the opening of the new route, the one-way journey has been shortened to 5 hours, and passengers entering from Urumqi can transfer to 35 domestic cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou on the same day, making economic and trade exchanges between the two countries more convenient.

At the inaugural ceremony, Ding Anning, General Manager of China Southern Airlines Xinjiang Branch, stated that the opening of the Urumqi Yerevan route by China Southern Airlines has built a convenient "air bridge" between the two countries, which can further promote mutually beneficial cooperation, sharing and win-win results, create new opportunities for Xinjiang to build a golden channel between Asia and Europe and a bridgehead for opening up to the west, and provide strong support for Xinjiang's high-quality development and high-level opening up.

The opening of the Yerevan air route has also attracted a large number of tourists. Chen Xi, who has many years of experience as a tour guide, plans to take the inaugural flight to Yerevan. She said, "In 2015, I led a team to Armenia. At that time, we needed to transfer from Moscow and apply for visas for both Moscow and Yerevan. Now we finally have a direct flight to Yerevan, and now it's visa free travel, which greatly improves the convenience

To ensure a smooth maiden flight, China Southern Airlines has communicated with security and customs departments at Urumqi Airport in advance to establish a linkage mechanism, optimize processes, and improve customs clearance efficiency. Due to the lack of experience with domestic airlines operating this route before, China Southern Airlines focused on training pilots in theoretical knowledge and flight techniques. All crew members completed a 2-hour specialized flight training on the simulator and were equipped with two sets of crew members, totaling 6 pilots, to perform route tasks.

Armenia is located in the southern Transcaucasia at the junction of Asia and Europe, bordering Türkiye in the west, Iran in the south, Georgia in the north and Azerbaijan in the east. Its capital, Yerevan, has a long history and culture. It is the economic, cultural and transportation center of the country and a famous tourist destination. Xinjiang is located in the hinterland of the Eurasian continent, bordering eight neighboring countries. In history, it was an important passage of the ancient Silk Road, a necessary stop for the second "Eurasian Continental Bridge", and the core area of the Silk Road Economic Belt, with obvious geographical advantages. From Xinjiang, passengers only need about 5 hours to reach the Armenian capital Yerevan. In terms of economic and trade exchanges between the two sides, the advantages of time and transportation costs are obvious.

It is reported that China Southern Airlines has opened 21 international and regional routes in Xinjiang, covering 13 countries and regions. Since the beginning of this year, China Southern Airlines has carried over 347000 international passengers in Xinjiang, a year-on-year increase of 97.5%; The year-on-year increase in international freight volume has exceeded 80%, setting a new historical high for the same period. Keywords: engineering construction, engineering news, engineering construction information.

Zhao Dandan, Deputy Director of the Flight Coordination Office of China Southern Airlines Xinjiang Branch, introduced that in the next step, China Southern Airlines will continue to explore the potential markets in Central and Western Asia and the Caucasus region, and start researching the feasibility of opening new routes such as Shymkent in Kazakhstan and Karachi in Pakistan based on regional market development. (This article is from the official website of Jian Dao: www.seetao.com. Reproduction without permission is prohibited, otherwise it will be prosecuted. Please indicate Jian Dao website+original link when reprinting.) Jian Dao website mechanical column editor/Zhou Yingwen