NAGOYA, Sep. 1, 2009 (Kyodo News International) -- China Eastern Airlines Corp. (NYSE:CEA) will operate two regular flights per week between Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, and Nanjing, the Aichi prefectural government said Tuesday.

Although the launch date has yet to be decided, the Aichi government wants China Eastern Airlines to start flying to Central Japan International Airport, the international gateway for the prefecture's capital, ''as early as possible,'' a prefectural government official said.

China Eastern Airlines said it plans to open the new route when its top executives met with Aichi Gov. Masaaki Kanda who is in China to try to attract Chinese carriers to the airport, dubbed Centrair, according to the prefectural government.

China Eastern Airlines hopes to take advantage of an expected increase in the exchange of people between Japan and China on the occasion of the 2010 World Exposition in Shanghai.

Currently, the state-owned Chinese carrier flies three routes connecting Centrair with three Chinese cities including Shanghai.

The airline's decision is a boon to the airport near Nagoya as a number of carriers have stopped using it since last year.