China Eastern Airlines to resume Nanjing-Paris flight

China Eastern Airlines will resume operation of the Nanjing-Paris air route on Oct 29, further improving air connectivity between East China's Jiangsu province and Europe.

The service marks the airline's third long-haul route from Jiangsu province after Nanjing-Sydney and Nanjing-Melbourne, and the first direct passenger flight in recent years linking Jiangsu with a major European hub.

Flight MU845 will depart Nanjing at 00:45 Beijing time and arrive in Paris at 06:10 local time, while the return flight MU846 will leave Paris at 13:20 and reach Nanjing at 07:30 the next day.

During a trial period beginning on July 9, China Eastern operated the route once a week with a Boeing 777 aircraft, carrying 4,526 passengers and achieving a 76 percent load factor — indicating robust market demand. Many travelers from Jiangsu used the service for family trips to France or for connections to other European and global destinations.

More than 70 percent of passengers were Chinese tourists, and in July and August, nearly half were transfer passengers using the Air France-KLM network via Paris.

With Nanjing Lukou International Airport serving as a regional hub, China Eastern has developed an extensive transfer network of over 1,000 routes through Nanjing. From January to September, nearly 90,000 international passenger trips used Nanjing as a transit point.

The resumed Nanjing-Paris flight is expected to further boost trade, tourism and cultural exchanges between Jiangsu and France, one of the province's key European partners.