American Airlines, the world's largest carrier in terms of fleet, launched a direct route between Beijing and Dallas on Friday.

A Boeing 777-200 aircraft with 245 seats will operate daily flights on the route.

It is the first direct route from Beijing to Dallas, the largest city in the southern United States.

With the new route, it will be more convenient for Chinese passengers to transfer to Latin American destinations, where American Airlines has a strong network.

"China is an important market for American Airlines and the carrier keeps investing in the market," said Erwan Perhirin, Asia-Pacific vice-president of the carrier, which opened routes to Hong Kong and Shanghai in 2014.