China Southern Airlines, the largest air carrier in Asia by fleet size, is scheduled to launch direct flights between Guangzhou and Rome on July 13, bringing its European destinations to seven cities.

The flights will take off from Guangzhou to Rome on Mondays, Fridays and Sundays.

With that addition, the airliner will be running 15 European routes, or 62 flights a week. Through code-sharing with European carriers, it will be able to fly passengers to 170 other European cities. China Southern will fly the Guangzhou-Rome route with Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircrafts.

The airliner plans to receive a total of 20 Boeing 787-9 aircraft to form the largest Boeing 787 fleet of an air carrier in the Chinese mainland.

Meanwhile, China Southern plans to launch a route between Guangzhou and Lahore of Pakistan on August 28. Flights will take off from Guangzhou on Monday, Tuesday, Friday and Saturday.

China Southern Airlines will start to operate scheduled flights between Guangzhou and Rome on July 13. [Photo/cnr.cn]