A cross-border shuttle bus service linking the Shenzhen International Airport with Hong Kong's Kowloon was put into service Tuesday to facilitate passengers wanting to fly from Shenzhen.

Passengers in Hong Kong can check in at the Airport Express Kowloon Station before taking the 75-minute coach trip to the Shenzhen airport, which costs HK$90 yuan (US$11) one way.

Passengers leaving the Shenzhen airport for connecting flights to overseas cities can also take the bus.

The service will operate every 30 minutes. Buses will run to Shenzhen between 7:15 a.m. to 7:15 p.m. and back to Hong Kong from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Alan Chan, managing director of Chinalink Express Holdings, the provider of the service, said the company hoped to increase service frequency to 20 minutes next year and to 15 minutes the year after next.

Shenzhen is used by mainlanders as a transit hub to Hong Kong. Of the 13.6 million mainland tourists visiting Hong Kong last year, 3 million entered the SAR via the Shenzhen airport.

The airport currently operates 132 routes, of which 102 are domestic, covering about 70 cities in the country. The Hong Kong airport services about 150 destinations of which 40 are mainland cities.

The costs of flying from Shenzhen to inland cities, which is between 30 and 60 percent cheaper than from Hong Kong, are attractive to Hong Kong residents, Chan said.

But Hong Thai Travel Services Ltd. deputy manager Daniel Chan said the service might not be attractive to tour groups.

"Taking a round trip to and from the airport will cost HK$180. If that extra cost is factored in, it is not very much cheaper than flying directly from Hong Kong," he said.

Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang said in his Policy Address on Oct. 10 that cooperation between airports of the two cities should be strengthened and a railway would be built to link them. 

Editor: Yan