A weekly direct flight has been launched between Hong Kong and Urumchi, Xinjiang, in response to growing interest in the Chinese mainland western provinces.

Travel and transportation operator Global Express reports the service has generated better-than-expected results, and is fully booked by tour groups until September. The company plans to add more flights next year.

Global Express signed a three-year agreement with Xinjiang Airlines after seeing increasing demand from Hong Kong and Taiwanese tourists wanting to visit Western China. Taiwanese tour groups account for half the bookings with the rest coming from Hong Kong travel agents.

Company spokesman Johnson Chu said the strong customer response was partly due to the competitive round trip group airfare of HK$3,850 (US$498) each, or HK$5,000 (US$646) for individual tickets.

The Hong Kong-Urumchi flight time is about 5 hours, with the return flight being 4 3/4 hours. The service, which uses a Boeing 757 bought by Xinjiang Airlines six months ago, operates from June to October, in the best travelling season. Tourists are often drawn to Xinjiang because of the unique lifestyle of its ethnic Urghur people and the spectacular scenery which is featured in many Chinese classical stories.