A new air route between Shanghai and Seoul was launched Sunday, aiming at cutting travel time.

Four airlines - China Eastern Airlines, Shanghai Airlines, and Korean Air and Asiana Airlines from the Republic of Korea (ROK) - will each offer a roundtrip every day between Shanghai's Hongqiao Airport and Seoul's Gimpo Airport.

Compared to the Inchoen-Pudong route, Hongqiao-Gimpo is expected to save a minimum of one hour since Gimpo Airport is just 12 km from the downtown of Seoul while Inchoen Airport is 52 km away, said a spokesman with the Hongqiao Airport.

This is the second international air route at Hongqiao after the Hongqiao-Haneda (Tokyo) route went into operation on September 29 with two airlines each from Japan and China flying once a day.

Meanwhile on the Gimpo-Haneda route, four airlines are all running two roundtrips per day.

The Hongqiao-Gimpo-Haneda routes will cut travel time as the airports are closer to Shanghai, Seoul and Tokyo respectively than Incheon, Pudong and Narita, which will make it possible to travel between Seoul, Shanghai and Tokyo in a single day.

(Xinhua News Agency October 29, 2007)