NIIGATA (Kyodo) Russia's Siberian Airlines will begin offering flights Saturday linking the city of Niigata with the Russian city of Irkutsk, the Niigata Prefectural Government announced Wednesday.

The flights, which will take four hours and 40 minutes, will operate once a week in the summer. This year, the service will be provided through Sept. 25, it said.

Aeroflot flew the route between 1991 and 2000.