HANGZHOU, July 15 (Xinhua) -- A direct flight service linking east China's Hangzhou with Moscow, Russia will be launched on July 31, a source of Hangzhou Xiaoshan Airport said Sunday.

The flight service will be operated by Capital Airlines, with round-trip flights departing Hangzhou in the morning of every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday and returning from Moscow in the afternoon of the same day of departure. Hangzhou is five hours ahead of Moscow.

It will be the first direct flight service connecting the two cities, cutting the travel time to around 10 hours and 40 minutes.

Russia has become a popular destination for Chinese tourists in recent years. The number of Chinese traveling to Russia reached 216,000 in the first quarter of this year, up 18 percent from the same period of last year.