WUHAN, Aug. 25 -- An Airbus A350 took off from the central Chinese city of Wuhan, capital of Hubei Province, with 270 passengers bound for London's Heathrow Airport on Friday morning, marking the resumption of the direct flight route from Wuhan to Europe after the pandemic.

Operated by China Southern Airlines, this air service will run once a week on Fridays. The outbound flight is scheduled to leave Wuhan Tianhe International Airport at 2:15 a.m. and arrive in London at 7:10 a.m. local time. The return flight leaves London at 11:05 a.m. local time and arrives in Wuhan at 5:00 a.m. the next day.

The first outbound flight to London saw the passenger load factor reach 88 percent, and that of the inbound flight hit 90 percent, according to Li Shuwen, the vice sales manager of China Southern Airlines' Hubei branch.

"We are very optimistic about the revenue that comes with the route. So far, over 80 percent of the available seating capacity of the Wuhan-London flights in September has already been booked," said Li, adding that the company plans to add one more flight every week in November.

Up to now, Wuhan Tianhe International Airport has resumed nine air routes to international metropolises, including Dubai, Sydney, Tokyo, Singapore and Bangkok.