URUMQI, May 18 (Xinhua) -- A new direct air route linking Beijing and the city of Kashgar, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, will be launched on June 10, according to Air China.

Sources with Air China said the non-stop flight aims to boost tourism and help poverty alleviation in Xinjiang.

The company has already opened an air route linking Beijing and Kashgar, with a stopover in Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang.

The flight will take off at 7:35 p.m. in Beijing on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, using a Boeing B738 aircraft and will arrive in Kashgar at 0:45 a.m. the next day. The return flight will depart Kashgar at 1:30 a.m. and land in Beijing at 6:00 a.m.

The ancient oasis city of Kashgar, near the border of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, was an important staging post on the ancient Silk Road.