Children taking a selfie at a Christmas market tree in Moscow's Red Square, Dec 20, 2014. [Photo/IC]

SHENYANG - Moscow-based I-Fly airline on Wednesday launched a direct route between Moscow and Shenyang, capital city of northeast China's Liaoning province.

The Airbus 330-300 aircraft, which has 387 economy seats, will fly every Wednesday between the two cities.

The travel time is expected to be about nine hours. On Wednesday, the flight carried a total of 385 tourists from Shenyang to Moscow during its debut flight.

The route is expected to boost tourism and economic cooperation between Liaoning and Russia.