Chinese national carrier Air China launched a new scheduled service from Beijing to the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur Thursday, the airline announced.

The move was driven by the growth in travel between the two countries, the carrier's Kuala Lumpur sales manager Christina Liu Yu Min said.

The airline will fly from Beijing to Kuala Lumpur Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, and offer return flights on the following days, the New Straits Times reported.

The first flight from Beijing was scheduled to arrive at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport at 11:00 pm Thursday (1500 GMT).

Huge market

"The findings of a study in 2002 on the number of visitor arrivals between Malaysia and China showed that the market is huge," said Liu.

"Last year some 550,000 Malaysians visited China while some 560,000 people in mainland China visited Malaysia.

"Depending on the demand, we could start daily flights later on," Liu added.

Air China had previously operated chartered flights between Kuala Lumpur and destinations in China.

Passengers will now also have the opportunity to purchase air tickets to connect to other domestic destinations at discounted prices, Liu said.

"Bookings into October 2003 are very good. Because more people travel in November and December, demand is also expected to be as great," she said.

Liu said the airline would also consider introducing flights to Chengdu in western China or Hangzhou in eastern China.

Air travel between the two countries suffered during the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak earlier this year. Malaysia briefly imposed stricter visa controls on nationals from China, one of the worst-hit areas during the crisis. - AFP