Travelers in Sichuan province are now finding it easier to visit Australia after the local carrier Sichuan Airlines inaugurated a direct route from the provincial capital Chengdu to Melbourne on Feb 28.

Travel time has been slashed to just over 10 hours as passengers are spared the previous flight transfers at airports in Beijing, Shanghai or Guangzhou.

Departing at 00:30 am Beijing time and arriving at 2:10 pm in Melbourne, travelers can start their business or sightseeing activities right after landing in the second-most populous city in Australia.

The Chengdu-headquartered carrier has three flights a week on its wide-body Airbus A330.

It also offers international onboard meals with both spicy Sichuan cuisine and Western-style desserts.

The route, the first to connect western China and Australia, will also benefit travelers from neighboring Guizhou, Yunnan, and Shaanxi provinces, the Tibet autonomous region, and Chongqing municipality, said the airline.

As both Chengdu and Melbourne are regional economic centers and tourist destinations, flights between the two cities are expected to boost the development of both and strengthen mutual bonds, the company said.

The flights will also play a role in promoting economic and cultural exchanges between western China and Australia as a whole, it added.

To facilitate travel by local residents, the Australian government plans to establish a consulate in Chengdu this year.

The addition will make Chengdu the fifth city in China with an Australian diplomatic mission after Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hong Kong.

In addition to the Chengdu-Melbourne route, Sichuan Airlines is planning to start one or two routes to Europe or America. The moves will help consolidate Chengdu's position as a vital air transport hub in western China, said a local transport official.

With 138 domestic and 50 international routes, it boasts the most extensive network among airports in central and western China.

Passengers can travel to 94 Chinese cities and 46 overseas destinations from the airport, with non-stop routes to Doha, Paris and London planned.

Statistics show that Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport handled 31.59 million passengers in 2012, up from 29.07 million in 2011, ranking it the fourth-busiest airport in China.

Land transport

The city also boasts an advanced land transport system of railway and road networks.

A major railway hub and the home to Southwest China's rail administration center, Chengdu is the terminus for four major railways that stretch to Chongqing, Baoji in Shaanxi province, Kunming in Yunnan province, and Dazhou in Sichuan province.

The city also has a high-speed railway to its satellite city Dujiangyan.

New lines under construction include one linking Chengdu and Chongqing expected to begin service in 2014 that will cut travel between the two cities to less than one hour, said local railway authorities.

Chengdu has played an increasingly prominent role in cargo transport as the starting point of cargo lines to Shanghai, Guangzhou, Nanjing, Xuzhou, Ningbo, Lanzhou and Lianyungang across the country.

It is also home to one of the 18 container stations operated by the Ministry of Railways in the country.

Covering more than 140 hectares, the station was put into use in early 2010.

Built to have annual handling capacity of 26.26 million tons, it is said to be the largest in Asia.

Logistics parks built around the station link to at least 55 cities. Improved logistics will help local businesses cut their shipping costs by some 30 percent, according to a local newspaper.

The rail network is even stretching outside China into Europe.

In 2012, a freight route linking Chengdu and Duisburg, an industrial city in western Germany, opened to traffic. Local products can now be shipped to Germany within 16 days.

Later that year, InterRail and China Railway International Multimodal Transport Co Ltd began a pilot route connecting Chengdu to Lodz, the third-largest city in Poland.

Chengdu also boasts a well-developed road network with national-level expressways extending out to Shanxi and Yunnan provinces, the Tibet autonomous region and Chongqing.

It also has expressways to cities within Sichuan province including Leshan, known worldwide for its Buddha statues.

Traveling within the city itself is eased by a well-developed ring road system and efficient public transport.

Thanks to Chengdu's enhanced transport infrastructure and geographical location, some 50 modern logistics companies including UPS, DHL and Maersk had set up offices in the city by early March.

lifusheng@chinadaily.com.cn