The round-trip flight between Xi'an, the capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, and Paris, France, resumed on Wednesday, aiming to strengthen travel links between China and Europe.
Hainan Airlines flight HU7907, carrying 132 passengers, departed from Xi'an Xianyang International Airport for Paris at 02:00 Wednesday (Beijing Time), marking the resumption of the route between the two cities.
The new schedule for the Xi'an-Paris route includes flights every Wednesday, with a one-way flight time of approximately 11 and a half hours.
According to Zhang Naifu, deputy director of the Hainan Airlines' marketing department, the Xi'an-Paris route is operated using a Boeing 787-9 wide-body aircraft with a seating capacity of 290.
"The Xi'an-Paris route is operated using a 787-9 wide-body aircraft with a capacity of 290 seats. We expect to gradually restore the European and American routes we operated in Xi'an before the pandemic, increasing capacity and expanding our route network,”said Zhang.
As the fifth direct flight from Xi'an to Europe, this route further promotes the opening-up of northwest China and enriches Xi'an Airport's network of European destinations.
Zhang Xuan, deputy general manager of the marketing department at the airport, said that this route is the second direct intercontinental flight from northwest China to France.
"Moving forward, Xi'an (Xianyang International) Airport will continue to expand its international flight network from the Xi'an hub to various destinations worldwide, including routes to Vientiane, Nagoya, Phnom Penh, and more," she added.
Round-trip flight between Xi'an, Paris resumes
The Labour Party government unveiled its first budget on Wednesday, outlining plans to raise taxes by 40 billion pounds a year.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves presented the budget in the House of Commons, marking Labour Party's first budget since returning to power in July after 14 years.
Despite previous assurances not to raise taxes on working people, the chancellor announced a rise in employers' National Insurance (NI) contributions from 13.8 percent to 15 percent, effective April 2025. Also, the threshold at which employers begin paying NI for employees will be reduced from 9,100 to 5,000 pounds annually.
Together, these changes are projected to generate 25 billion pounds per year for the government.
Capital gains tax will also see an increase, with the lower rate rising from 10 percent to 18 percent and the higher rate from 20 percent to 24 percent, Reeves said.
The national minimum wage for full-time workers aged 21 and over will rise by 6.7 percent to 12.21 pounds an hour, while that for 18 to 20-year-olds will rise from 8.6 to 10 pounds an hour.
Additional tax changes include higher taxes on smoking, the introduction of VAT on private school fees, and the abolition of the non-dom tax regime beginning in April 2025.
In her budget statement, Reeves stressed the importance of investment, saying that the government will deliver "a boost to public investment by over 100 billion pounds over the next five years across roads, rail, schools and hospitals whilst keeping debt on a downward path."
Analysts note that the high debt burden and global economic uncertainty would continue to pose significant challenges for UK fiscal policies.
There are also concerns among the public that the Labour Party's commitment to increasing spending on healthcare and other social services may be difficult to achieve fully amid current fiscal pressures.
UK unveils new budget with tax hikes of 40 bln pounds
