Connecting the peoples of two lands by air

The establishment of Alitalia - Italian Air Company's roundtrip nonstop flight route between Beijing and Rome provides "great incentives to boost mutual communications between China and Italy", the Mediterranean country's ambassador to China Attilio Massimo Lannucci says.

The route officially opened on June 2 and has since had a roughly 70-percent seat occupancy and a minimum roundtrip fare of 4,000 yuan ($615).

Alitalia has a 149-aircraft fleet that undertakes more than 5,200 weekly flights to 92 destinations.

It's a member of SkyTeam - a 13-member global airline alliance that operates more than 12,000 daily flights to 898 destinations in 169 countries.

"My mission is to facilitate the expansion of Italian-oriented enterprises in China and to enable more Chinese to better understand Italian culture," Lannucci says.

"Therefore, we at the Italian embassy should try our best to enhance visa-processing efficiency."

About 120,000 Chinese citizens were issued Italian visas last year, and this year's figure is expected to exceed 200,000, Lannucci says.

Alitalia recently signed a code-sharing agreement with China Eastern Airlines, which operates a service between Shanghai and Rome.

The move has consolidated SkyTeam alliance's position in the Asian market, analysts say.

Passengers from China arriving in Rome will be connected with 28 Italian and 63 other global destinations served by Alitalia's network.

The International Air Transport Association expects China will become the No 1 contributor to the growth of global air transport traffic in the next three years. China will contribute 214 million of the 800 million new passengers worldwide, the association estimates.

"The new service from Beijing represents a key step in Alitalia's strategy to connect Italy with the most important world destinations for business and leisure tourism," Alitalia's CEO Rocco Sabelli says.