Tourists will be able to travel from Harbin, capital of Northeast China’s Heilongjiang province, to Phuket of Thailand in seven hours, according to the Harbin International Travel Service on Dec 9.

Supported by the Tianma International Travel Service and Jet Asia Airways, the direct flight will carry nearly 250 travelers from Harbin in the morning to Phuket in the afternoon once a week from January to March of 2015.

Once open, the travel time and ticket price to Phuket will be much more economical than transit to Phuket in cities like Beijing and Shanghai.

As the only direct air route to Phuket in Heilongjiang province, the tourism chartered flights will heat up foreign trips to Phuket next year.