NANNING - A new air route is set to open on Friday between Nanning, capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, and Taiwan's Kaohsiung.

Taiwan's Far Eastern Air Transport (FAT) will operate the new route, with a weekly round-trip direct flight scheduled for every Friday, airport authorities in Nanning said in a press release Thursday.

A MD-83 passenger plane will fly the route, it said.

It said the new route was launched amid increasing exchanges of tourists and businesspeople between the two cities.

FAT is the second airline company to operate the Nanning-Kaohsiung route. Taiwan's TransAsia Airways also has a weekly direct flight.

FAT also operates a direct flight from Nanning to Taipei.

The Taipei-based company, founded in 1957, has launched several air routes to the mainland since it resumed operation last year following financial restructuring.

This week alone, it has launched new routes from Haikou and Hefei to Kaohsiung, and from Guiyang to Taipei. A new route from Chengdu to Kaohsiung is set to open on Sunday.