JERUSALEM, April 27 (Xinhua) -- China's Hainan Airlines will launch a new direct route from August 2 this year between China's southern city of Guangzhou and Israel's coastal city of Tel Aviv, according to Hainan Airlines Tel Aviv Branch on Friday.

There will be three flights between the two cities every week, respectively on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, served by a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, said Wei Ran, general manager of Hainan Airlines Tel Aviv Branch.

Israeli Tourism Minister Yariv Levin said that as a result of the fruitful cooperation with Hainan Airlines, there are now ten weekly direct flights to China.

This will be the third direct route between China and Israel launched by Hainan Airlines, after the first airline between Beijing and Tel Aviv has started from April 2016, and the second route between Shanghai and Tel Aviv has began from September 2017.

"This new route will further facilitate the travels of Israelis to China, while creating more opportunities for business cooperation between Israeli and Chinese companies," said Wei Ran.

Figures from Israel's Ministry of Tourism showed that some 114,000 Chinese tourists visited Israel in 2017, a 41-percent year-on-year increase from 2016 and a 142-percent rise from 2015.