WUHAN, May 22 -- A direct air route between Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province, and the western Japanese commercial city of Osaka will open in July, Spring Airlines announced on Wednesday.

The Wuhan-Osaka route will be launched on July 18. The 180-seat Airbus A320 aircraft will fly the route every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday, according to Spring Airlines, one of China's major private carriers.

It is the first direct flight between Wuhan and Osaka. It will cut travel time compared to non-direct routes, the company said.

"The opening of the new route will help build Wuhan into an international aviation hub, bridging it with northeast Asia," said Zhu Xueqing, deputy general manager of Hubei Airports Group Company.

He added that the company plans to open new air routes to the Maldives, Tokyo, Moscow and Melbourne as a next step.