The first direct flights between China and Serbia are set to take off on Dec 9 from Belgrade to Tianjin, with a scheduled arrival at Binhai International Airport on Dec 10.

The regular weekly flights by Air Serbia will leave Belgrade on Saturdays, and the return trips will depart from Tianjin on Sundays, the airport said.

The new flights will seat up to 240 passengers on an Airbus A330-200, the largest aircraft of its kind in the Air Serbia fleet, according to Tianjin Radio's WeChat account.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic told local media last week that the new flights are big news.

In 2020 and 2021, medical materials, including the raw materials for COVID-19 vaccines, were delivered by Air Serbia from Tianjin airport to the southeastern European country.