China Southern Airlines on Monday inaugurated the first direct commercial air route between Beijing and Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, marking a new milestone in air connectivity between China and Central Asia.

The inaugural flight CZ6051, carrying 173 passengers, departed from Beijing Daxing International Airport at noon and landed in Dushanbe later in the day, officially launching the first nonstop route operated by a Chinese carrier between the two capitals.

According to China Southern Airlines, a Boeing 787 was deployed for the maiden journey, while future flights will be operated with Boeing 737-8 aircraft. The service will run twice a week, on Tuesdays and Saturdays.

Except the inaugural flight, the regular departure time for Flight CZ6051 will be 5 pm and it will arrive in Dushanbe at 9 pm local time, with a flight time of approximately seven hours. The return flight, CZ6052, will regularly leave Dushanbe at 10:30 pm local time, and land in Beijing at 7:20 am the next day, completing the journey in about six hours.