Hainan Island's southernmost city of Sanya is to add nine direct international routes after signing agreements with a selection of tour companies at the 2016-2017 winter flight season promotion conference on Aug 18.

The popular tropical tourist destination will be opened up to key markets in Japan and Russia just in time for winter, which remains a peak holiday time for the island due to its warm climate.

The chartered winter routes, operated by one domestic and two overseas airlines, will add to the existing 14 at Sanya Phoenix International Airport. The routes include Moscow, Novosibirsk, Krasnoyarsk and Yekaterinburg in Russia, Vientiane and Luang Prabang in Laos, and Tokyo in Japan.

In 2015, Sanya Airport handled more than 16 million passengers, making it the 18th busiest airport in China.

Direct flights are now available from Europe, Russia, Japan, Korea, and other Southeast Asian countries.