Ethiopian Airlines has concluded plans to launch non-stop service between Addis Ababa and Chengdu International Airport, China with effect from June 3, 2017.

The three weekly service will be operated on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays by the airlines's ultra-modern and environmentally friendly Boeing 787-8 with 274 seats.

Flight ET 0636 will depart Addis Ababa by 00:10 and arrive Chengdu by 14:40 local time. Return flight ET 0637 will leave Chengdu by 01:50 and touch down at Addis Ababa by 06:20 local time.

Chengdu is the capital of China’s Sichuan province and the 7th-largest city in China. It is the country's western center of logistics, commerce, science and technology, as well as a hub of transportation, manufacturing and communication.

The new service will enable Ethiopian's passengers to connect to dozens of cities in China in partnership with Air China, including Shenzhen, Kunming, Hangzhou, Xiamen, Wuhan, Changsha, and Urumqi.

Ethiopian was the first African carrier and the fourth in the world to fly to China back in 1973. It currently operates daily flights to Beijing, 10 weekly to Guangzhou, and 6 weekly to Hong Kong.