Sichuan Airlines to add fifth freedom flights to Zurich in June

Sichuan Airlines has secured approval to use fifth freedom rights to extend a route from Chengdu, China to Prague, Czech Republic and onto Zurich, Switzerland beginning June 23. The new twice-weekly Chengdu-Prague-Zurich Airbus A330 service is expected to become the first fifth freedom flight from Chengdu to transport passengers to a third country. Currently, the domestic regional carrier operates international services that include twice-weekly Chengdu-Prague service and 2 European routes to Moscow and St. Petersburg. Sichuan Airlines chairman Li Haiying had previously said the carrier planned to open 5 international routes this year—all originating from Chengdu—to Copenhagen, Boston, Cairo and Tel Aviv, in addition to Zurich. <br/>