WUHAN -- A direct air route between Wuhan, capital of Central China's Hubei province, and Male, capital of the Maldives, an island nation popular for tourism, opened on Thursday.

The maiden flight via an Airbus A320 took off at 8 am and is expected to arrive in Male at 2:10 pm local time. The flight, which will depart every Thursday from Wuhan, takes about 7 hours, according to the provincial tourism bureau.

Wuhan is the seventh Chinese city to open a direct air route with the Maldives after Hong Kong, Chengdu, Chongqing, Kunming, Guangzhou and Beijing.

Chinese citizens are eligible for visa-exempt visits to the Maldives for 30 days.