Yunnan to add more air routes to South, SE Asia

KUNMING, July 17(Xinhua) -- Southwest China's Yunnan Province plans to add 25 new air routes to Southeast Asia and South Asia before 2020 as part of an initiative to develop Yunnan into a regional air hub, the province's development and reform commission said Monday.

Of the 25 new routes, 17 are passenger air routes, linking Kunming, the provincial capital, to cities including Islamabad, Jakarta, and Haiphong. The other eight cargo routes will connect Kunming with cities such as Calcutta, Rangoon, and Ho Chi Minh City.

Yunnan, which borders Myanmar, Laos, and Vietnam, has already opened air routes to the capital cities of all Southeast Asian countries. The province also plans to increase the frequency of existing air routes to cities including Bangkok, Vientiane, and Hanoi.