China will open direct chartered flights between Moscow and its southernmost city of Sanya, a famous scenic coastal city, in late December, the provincial tourism bureau said Tuesday.

The flights will be undertaken once every 10 days starting December 25 and the passengers will be mostly tourists expected to stay in Sanya for 10 days and then take another chartered flight back to Russia, according to the bureau.

Russian airlines will carry out all the flights.

Several large travel agencies in Russia have signed contracts with the Russian airline for altogether 13 flights.

"If everything goes well this time, the direct chartered flights between the two cities may carry on," said an official with the bureau.

Hainan, an island province, has become increasingly attractive to foreign tourists, especially for people from countries, like Russia, without tropical areas.

Statistics with the provincial tourism bureau showed that Hainan received more than 325,000 foreign tourists in the first three quarters of the year, with a year-on-year increase of 49.8 percent. The number of Russian tourists doubled compared to the same period of 2004.

(Xinhua News Agency December 14, 2005)