CHENGDU - Qatar Airways is to operate a new direct air route from Chengdu, capital of Southwest China's Sichuan province, to Qatar's capital of Doha from March 19 next year.

Using Airbus 300 aircraft, Qatar Airways will offer three round-trip flight services every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday starting from Doha, according to an announcement by the carrier.

The new route will be the second from Chengdu to countries in the Middle East after one linking Chengdu and Abu Dhabi.

The number of flights shuttling from Qatar to China's Guangzhou, Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Chongqing and Chengdu each week will reach 41 with the introduction of the new service.