WUHAN - Air France-KLM, a leading European air carrier, will launch a direct flight route between Paris and Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei province, on April 12, the company announced on Wednesday.

The route's three flights every week will be serviced by Boeing 777-200 ER aircraft, said Frederic Kahane, general manager of Air France-KLM Greater China.

The flight time is expected to be 11 and a half hours, he said.

The opening of the new route will greatly shorten the distance between Wuhan, Europe and the world at large, as well as help build Wuhan into an international aviation hub, said Peng Jun, director of the Wuhan Municipal Committee of Transport.