The first chartered flight from Bangkok, Thailand to Harbin, capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, successfully landed at Taiping International Airport on Wednesday.

The group photo of passengers on the maiden chartered flight (Photo: China News Service/ Chen Xianchun)

This direct route is undertaken by Airbus A330 aircraft of Thai AirAsia. It is scheduled to fly three times per week on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays.

The inbound flight operates as XJ900, while the outbound flight is designated as XJ901, with a total of 21 round trips each week.

2025 marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Thailand and China. Ms. Yolrawee Sitichai, director of Tourism Authority of Thailand Beijing Office noted that Bangkok and Harbin have long been each other’s top destinations for overseas travel. The newly launched route will greatly enhance travel efficiency for visitors between the two cities.

Harbin, known as the "Ice City", is a top winter tourism destination in northeast China. Its iconic winter attraction Ice-Snow World, the world's largest ice-and-snow theme park, officially opened on Dec. 21.

In addition to Thai AirAsia, other travel agencies in Southeast Asia are also offering chartered flight services to Heilongjiang Province during the winter tourism season.

Harbin has opened several regular flights to Southeast Asia this winter and is expected to welcome over 30,000 tourists from the Indo-China Peninsula during the season.