WUHAN - A direct air route has opened between Wuhan, capital of Central China's Hubei province and western Japanese commercial city of Osaka.

The 180-seat Airbus A320 aircraft flies the route every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday, according to Spring Airlines.

The direct flight slashes travel time to three hours from a previous six hours.

The new route, launched Friday, will help Wuhan become an international aviation hub, bridging it with northeast Asia, according to Zhu Xueqing, deputy general manager of Hubei Airports Group Co.

Spring Airlines is planning a direct flight linking Chongqing in Southwest China to Osaka.

COMAC gets order boost at major airshow	Airbus sees Chinese market as one of the world's largest