LOT Polish Airlines will launch its first direct flight from Warsaw to Beijing on March 30, 2008, linking the two nations by direct flight for the first time.

Initially, there are to be four non-stop flights every week from Warsaw to Beijing. A one-way flight will take about nine hours.

The airline will use Boeing 767 aircraft on the route until the new Boeing 787 is delivered, said Jacek Tomaszewski, general manager of LOT Polish Airlines China.

An earlier report from MasterCard Worldwide said outbound tourist figures from the Chinese mainland was expected to hit 21.6 million in the first half of 2008 with a year-on-year increase of 12.4 percent.

Based in Warsaw, LOT Polish Airlines has direct flights to 52 destinations in 31 countries. It is a member of the Association of European Airlines, and joined the Star Alliance in 2003.