CHONGQING, June 19 -- Chinese carrier Tianjin Airlines will launch a non-stop flight between Chongqing Municipality and Melbourne, Australia, on October 31.

According to Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport, the flight will take off every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday from Chongqing, a regional business hub in southwest China.

Travel time for the one-way trip will be around ten and a half hours. A round-trip ticket will start from 2,386 yuan (350 U.S. dollars), including taxes and fees. Flight tickets are already available for sale online.

Currently, Chongqing operates ten intercontinental direct flights to the cities of London, Helsinki, Rome, Moscow, Doha, Dubai, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Auckland and Sydney.

The city is planning to open new routes to cities including New York, Vientiane, Hanoi, and Ho Chi Minh City later this year.

It is estimated that Chongqing will have 100 international direct routes by 2020 with an international passenger throughput exceeding 5 million.