Tourists in Nantong prepare to board a flight to Vientiane. [Photo/Modern Express]

A flight carrying 186 outbound tourists from Jiangsu province departed from Nantong Xingdong International Airport in Nantong on Nov 20, bound for Vientiane, capital of Laos. This marks the official opening of the Nantong-Vientiane route.

Operated by 9Air, the route functions as a charter flight for tourists, offering two flights per week. The flight departs from Nantong at 11:25 am local time and from Vientiane at 3:45 pm local time.

As an important member of ASEAN, Laos has seen fruitful cooperation with China in recent years in fields such as connectivity, trade and investment, and cultural exchanges. The new route makes it easier to carry out exchanges in trade, culture, and other fields between Nantong and Vientiane.

Since the beginning of this year, the Nantong airport has successively resumed or launched new flights to Phnom Penh, Cambodia; Jeju Island, South Korea; Osaka, Japan; and Vientiane, Laos. The airport now has six international and regional routes in operation, continually enhancing Nantong's accessibility.

As of Nov 18, the airport had handled 3.68 million passengers and 60,300 metric tons of cargo and mail, up 11.02 percent and 18.86 percent from the previous year, respectively.