SHIJIAZHUANG, Dec. 24 -- Jet Asia Airways started direct flights on Tuesday between the northern Chinese city of Shijiazhuang, and the tourist destination of Phuket, in Thailand.

The first flight from Shijiazhuang departed at 4:20 p.m. Beijing Time and arrived at 8:55 p.m. local time at Puket, carrying 233 passengers.

The airline will operate a round trip every six days with a Boeing 767.

In January 2014, direct flights between Bangkok and Shijiazhuang will commence and flights between Kuala Lumpur and Shijiazhuang will start in April, according to the Zhengding International Airport in Shijiazhuang.

Over 3.24 million journeys were made from China to Thailand in the first nine months of 2013, up 107.7 percent year on year. This makes Thailand the second most popular destination for Chinese tourists.