GUIYANG, June 12 (Xinhua) -- Guiyang, capital of southwest China's Guizhou Province on Wednesday opened a direct air route to Melbourne, according to its operator Sichuan Airlines.

The direct service is expected to cut the travel time between the two cities by at least eight hours.

Operated by an Airbus A330 aircraft every Wednesday, the outbound flight is scheduled to depart Guiyang at 1:00 a.m. and arrive in Melbourne at 1:00 p.m. local time. The return flight will take off at 9:20 p.m. and land in Guiyang at 6:00 a.m. the next day.