BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, July 11 (Xinhua) -- Royal Brunei Airlines (RB), the sultanate's national carrier, aims to launch its planned Beijing route this October, after securing a landing slot at the new Beijing Daxing International Airport, CEO Karam Chand has told Xinhua.

When completed this year, the new Beijing Daxing International Airport, located 46km south of the city center, will be one of the world's largest international airports.

Chand said Wednesday that there were a number of approvals before the launch of the Beijing flights.

RB has been expanding its China footprint and now has flights to several cities including Shanghai, Nanning, Haikou, Hangzhou, and recently launched its service to Changsha. The national carrier also has flights to China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region for several years.

He said China is now the number one tourism market for Brunei.

Also in an interview on Wednesday, RB Chief Commercial Officer Martin Aeberli said the market response on flights between Brunei and Chinese cities was "very good."

He said RB sees the connection with Beijing as very important, as there has been an increasing trade and bilateral connection between Brunei and China.