KUNMING — Lucky Air, a subsidiary of Hainan Airlines, is scheduled to launch direct flights linking Lijiang, in Southwest China's Yunnan province, with Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in mid December.

The maiden flight will be on Dec 12, the airline announced Monday.

An Airbus A320 will operate three round trip flights per week, it said.

This will be Lucky Air's second direct service to the Malaysian capital; it also operates flights from Kunming, capital of Yunnan.

The service is expected to help boost people-to-people and cultural exchanges between the two cities, the airlines said.