Photo: Courtesy of China Eastern Airlines

 
China Eastern Airlines said on Sunday that it has launched a direct flight from Beijing to Muscat, the capital of Oman, a latest move to rev up economic and trade ties between China and Middle East.

This inaugural flight, flying from Beijing Capital International Airport, carried 270 passengers with a load factor of over 90 percent, the company said in a release sent to the Global Times on Sunday. 

This new route is the first direct flight between the two cities operated by a Chinese airline, China Eastern said. The airline also deploys Airbus A330, a large wide-body aircraft, to fly this route. Flights operate twice weekly, on Wednesdays and Sundays.

Prior to the launch of this direct route, travelers between China and Oman typically had to transfer through cities such as Dubai, Doha, or Istanbul, with a one-way journey taking nearly 24 hours. 

The new non-stop service improves travel efficiency, cutting the journey time to under 10 hours. Passengers can also conveniently connect via Beijing Daxing and Muscat airports to other destinations in East Asia and the Middle East, the carrier said. 

The flight came amid the background as China is taking efforts to optimize visa waiver policies, fueling surge in international travel and strengthening people-to-people exchanges with the rest of the world.

In May 2025, China announced a visa-exemption policy on a trial basis for Omani citizens, further promoting two-way exchanges.

From January 24, 2026, Air China will launch a direct flight route between Beijing and Abu Dhabi. The service will operate on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays by Boeing 787 aircraft.

Data from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) showed that in October this year, the international routes carried 69.9 million passenger trips, up 20.4 percent year-on-year.

From January to October, the international routes carried 66.146 million passenger trips, marking a year-on-year increase of 23.2 percent, CAAC said. 

In recent years, China has been continually expanding its visa-free travel policies for foreigners arriving in the country.

China will extend its unilateral visa-exemption arrangements for more than 40 countries to December 31, 2026, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on November 3.

Mao made the remarks at a regular news briefing as the unilateral visa-free policy for some of those countries will expire at the end of this year.

China also decides to include Sweden in the visa-free scheme effective from November 10, 2025 to December 31, 2026, Mao said.

Under the policy, holders of ordinary passports from those countries, including France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, Ireland and Hungary, will be exempted from visa requirement if they enter China for the purpose of business, tourism, family or friend visits, exchange and transit. They can stay in China for no more than 30 days without visa.

Global Times