HAIKOU, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) - A direct air route has been resumed between Haikou, capital of southern China's Hainan Province and Seoul, capital of Republic of Korea (ROK), after a six-month hiatus caused by scheduling conflicts.

(File photo)

The first flight after the resumption arrived at Haikou Meilan International Airport at 1:25 a.m. Thursday. It was operated by Jeju Air, using a Boeing 737-800 aircraft.

The airliner is scheduled to carry out two flights per week, starting on Thursday and Sunday from Haikou. The year will see a total of 105 flights.

Besides the flight between Haikou and Seoul, Hainan has three other direct flights with ROK, linking Sanya with Seoul, Busan and Taegu.

ROK is Hainan's second-largest source of inbound tourists. More than 91,000 overnight tourists from ROK visited Hainan last year, up 42.8 percent year-on-year.