Air Macao, the sole air company in the special administrative region, has opened its 16th domestic flight, local media reported Monday.

Macao Daily News, the leading local Chinese newspaper, reported that the new flight linking Macao and Sanya, an island tourism destination in the southern province of Hainan, is scheduled on Monday and Thursday every week.

Air Macao has been operating a flight linking Haikou, the capital city of Hainan, according to the newspaper.

The air company plays a more active role as a significant transit in the southern part of China, said the newspaper report.

Local analysts said the new flight will help Taiwan tourists for their traveling to Sanya, as there has been so far no direct flight linking the mainland and Taiwan, an island province of China.

(Xinhua News Agency December 26, 2005)