Kunming-Mandalay flights resume after quake repairs in Myanmar

KUNMING, June 29 (Xinhua) -- Flights between Kunming, capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province, and Mandalay in Myanmar resumed on Sunday, restoring a key route that had been suspended after a powerful earthquake in March, according to China Eastern Airlines' Yunnan branch.

The Kunming-Mandalay route is operated using Boeing 737 aircraft under flight numbers MU2029 and MU2030. The schedule remains unchanged from before the suspension, with four round-trip flights per week on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, the airline said.

The route was suspended after a 7.9-magnitude earthquake on March 28 damaged infrastructure at Mandalay airport. Following airport repairs and the resumption of international flight operations, China Eastern Airlines decided to relaunch the service to meet passenger demand.

The resumption of flights is expected to facilitate bilateral trade, cultural and people-to-people exchanges, as well as post-disaster reconstruction cooperation between China and Myanmar, while enhancing Yunnan's connectivity with Southeast Asia.

Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) remained China's largest trading partner in the January-May period. During this period, trade between China and ASEAN totaled 3.02 trillion yuan (about 422 billion U.S. dollars), a year-on-year increase of 9.1 percent. ■