Passengers board the flight to Singapore.

On December 24 at 10:50 AM, Flight GJ8797 departed from Wenzhou Longwan International Airport(WNZ)bound for Singapore, officially inaugurating the direct flight route between Wenzhou and Singapore. Consequently, Wenzhou has emerged as the third city in Zhejiang Province to offer direct flights to Singapore.

On the same morning, WNZhosted the inaugural ceremony for the first Wenzhou-Singapore direct flight, while also promoting and implementing the 240-hour visa-free transit policy. TheWenzhou-Singapore direct route is the first international regular passenger service launched by theairport after joining the 240-hour visa-free transit program, offeringthree weekly flights operated on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday by Loong Air.The departure flight leavesWenzhou at 10:50AMand arrivesin Singapore at 03:55PM; the return flight departs Singapore at 05:00PMand lands in Wenzhou at 09:45 PM(the flight time is local time), totaling a flight duration of approximately fivehours. Previously, it took at least eight hours to Singapore by transiting through Hong Kong, Shanghai, Guangzhou, or Beijing. Now the traveling time has been significantly reduced.

That night, WNZ also received its first passengers from Singapore on flight GJ8798. Those passengers, consisting of tour groups from Singapore and the home visiting group of the Overseas Wenzhou Association, are set to embark on a six-day, five-night journey in Wenzhou.

The relevant person in charge at WNZ told the reporter that the airport joined the group of ports eligible for the 240-hour transit visa-free policy on December 17. Following this visa-free policy, a direct flight route from Wenzhou to Singapore has been established, further diversifying the route network of the airport. This has constructed an air bridge connecting Wenzhou citizens to Southeast Asia and beyond, fostering positive impacts on Wenzhou’s opening-up efforts, trade, and cultural exchanges. The policy is expected to significantly boost the prosperity and development of Wenzhou’s business, cultural, and tourism industries, thereby enhancing the city’s international profile and openness. Additionally, it will aid in enhancing the two-way influence of the entry and exit flows via the Yiwu-Ningbo-Zhoushan and Jinhua-Lishui-Wenzhou channels, providing a strong impetus for Wenzhou to speed up its development into a regional hub for visa-free border ports.

It is learned that as of December 23, 2024, WNZ has achieved a passenger throughput of 12.297 million and a cargo throughput of 125,000 tons, both figures setting new record highs. Facing new strategic opportunities and “policy windows”, the airport will actively adapt to and integrate into the new development paradigm, striving to establish a regional international aviation hub that radiates across southern Zhejiang, northern Fujian, and eastern Jiangxi, and connects with domestic and international aviation hubs. Consequently, these efforts will promote Wenzhou as the “Wenzhou of the World”and strengthit as the“Third Pole of Zhejiang Province”in terms of influence and development.