SHENZHEN, May 5 (Xinhua) -- A direct flight was launched Sunday linking China's tech hub Shenzhen and Japan's Nagoya, local airport said.

The route, operated by China's low-cost carrier Spring Airlines using an Airbus A320 aircraft, is the first direct flight linking the cities.

Scheduled every day, the outbound flight leaves Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport at 5:55 a.m. and arrives at Nagoya's Central Japan International Airport at 10:10 a.m. local time.

The return flight departs Nagoya at 10:40 p.m. local time and arrives in Shenzhen, southern China's Guangdong Province, at 2 a.m. the next day.

Last year, over 8 million Chinese tourists visited Japan, up 13.9 percent year on year.