CHONGQING - Qatar Airways will offer direct flights between the southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing and Doha, capital of Qatar, as of November 28 this year, an airline's executive and a Chongqing government official said Thursday.

The airline will offer three round-trip flights weekly and the flights can be increased if there is a bigger market demand, according to Michael Anthony Swiatek, Qatar Airways's chief planning officer.

This will be the first direct flight service linking China's west with the Middle East, he said.

If passengers in and around Chongqing fly to South America, Africa and Europe via Doha, the travel time can be cut by as much as 10 hours, said Ai Yang, a deputy secretary general of the Chongqing Municipal Government.

Qatar Airways opened its first flight to China in 2004, and currently it has four destinations in the country, including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hong Kong, Swiatek said.