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ANTANANARIVO, July 6 (Xinhua)
The first flight linking the Indian Ocean island country of Madagascar and China took off from the international airport here at 14:50 p.m. (1150 GMT) on Monday with 100 passengers on board.
The flight is scheduled to arrive in Guangzhou, a southern China city, around 9:40 a.m. (0140 GMT) on Tuesday en route French- ruled Indian Ocean island of Reunion and Bangkok, Thailand.
The Boeing 767 passenger plane, belonging to the Madagascan state air carrier Air Madagascar, will fly to Guangzhou twice a week, on Mondays and Fridays.
The regular flight is scheduled to take off from Ivato International Airport in Antananarivo at 14:30 p.m. (1130 GMT) and land at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport at 9:40 a.m. (0140 GMT).
Speaking at the launching ceremony at the Ivato International Airport, Monja Roindefo Zafitsimivalo, Prime Minister of Madagascan transitional government, expressed his hope that the opening of the flight would strengthen relationship between the two countries.
With the take-off of the flight, he said, the economic development of Madagascar would surely be promoted.
Air Madagascar is a victim of current financial crisis and also badly affected in the on-going political crisis in Madagascar.
Its revenues have been reduced by 50 percents while its flights reduced by a half for lack of passengers and foreign tourists since last December when the political crisis broke out in the island country.
China and Madagascar signed a letter of intention for the direct flight between the two countries in 1997.