NANJING, May 14 (Xinhua) -- A direct air route was launched Monday between Nanjing in eastern China's Jiangsu Province, and Helsinki, capital of Finland, announced Finnair.

The new air route shows Finnair's expanding airline network in the booming Chinese market with Nanjing its seventh destination in the country, said Finnair.

Finnair will use the Airbus A330 for the direct-flight service, which takes about nine hours.

In its summer schedule, the Nanjing-Helsinki flight will depart every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. The return flight will be every Tuesday, Friday and Sunday.

In the winter, the flight will be offered twice a week.

Besides a Chinese-speaking crew, Finnair also provides WeChat Pay and Alipay services during the flight.

To date, Finnair has opened air routes from Helsinki to Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing, Xi'an, Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Nanjing.