Passengers check in at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Sept 3, 2013. [Photo / Xinhua]

CHICAGO -- An Airbus 340 of China's Hainan Airlines arrived at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago on Tuesday, marking its maiden flight between Beijing of China and Chicago of the United States.

At the inaugural ceremony, Chinese Consul General in Chicago Zhao Weiping said the opening of the air service will be "an important bridge linking China and the US Midwest," and that "it will bring more Chinese tourists, students, and entrepreneurs to Chicago and the US Midwest, as well as carry more Americans to China."

Hainan Airlines, the only certified Skytrax five-star airline on the Chinese mainland, is the first Chinese carrier to offer nonstop flight from the Chinese mainland to Chicago.