SUBJECT to regulatory approval, Jetstar will start a new thrice-weekly Singapore-Ningbo service from September 9.

The service will be expanded to four weekly flights from October 31.

Jetstar Asia CEO, Chong Phit Lian, said the service would provide new point-to-point traffic between Ningbo and Singapore. “Creating new links to growing Chinese cities like Ningbo will stimulate tourist traffic for Singapore,” she said.

Singapore Tourism Board’s regional director of greater China, Edward Koh, said: “Jetstar Asia’s direct flight between Singapore and Ningbo is introduced at an opportune time when secondary Chinese cities are growing in importance.”

Ningbo, 280km south of Shanghai on China’s eastern seaboard, will be Jetstar’s fifth destination in mainland China after Haikou, Shantou, Guilin and Hangzhou.

Land access from Ningbo to Shanghai is available via the Hangzhou Bay Bridge, which has reduced travel time between the cities to around 2.5 hours.