Carrier resumes Middle East flights

China Southern Airlines has resumed its three weekly flights to Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates after suspending the service in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks. Xinhua said the service had been resumed because of a calming trend in the Middle East and growing market demand. The Boeing 757 service from Beijing stops in Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang autonomous region, where many of the population are ethnic Uighur Muslims. Meanwhile, China Southern claimed a sharp upturn in traffic on its services to the US in December 2001. Citing load factors of about 90 per cent on its Guangzhou-Los Angeles route, the carrier said that travellers were showing confidence in the safety of the US as a business and travel destination.