A direct passenger air route linking Qingdao, Shandong province, with Vancouver, Canada, operated by Beijing Capital Airlines, resumes service on Oct 2. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

A direct passenger air route linking Qingdao, Shandong province, with Vancouver, Canada, resumed operations on Friday, reconnecting the two cities after a six-year hiatus.

The route is currently the only direct international passenger route linking Shandong province with North America, according to executives from Qingdao International Airport Group. Its resumption is expected to facilitate trade ties and people-to-people exchanges between the two regions.

The route is operated by Capital Airlines, with one flight scheduled every Friday on the Airbus A330 wide-body aircraft. The direct flight from Qingdao to Vancouver takes about 11 hours and 20 minutes.

With the resumption of the Qingdao-Vancouver route, Capital Airlines now operates intercontinental routes from Qingdao covering three continents — Europe, Oceania and North America — with destinations including London, Moscow, Sydney, Melbourne and Vancouver, said Liu Jun, president of Capital Airlines.