The Shanghai to Taiwan flight route has been the most popular since the launch of weekend charter flights between Taiwan and China in early July, according to Chinese customs statistics released Wednesday.

As of Aug. 25, a total of 6,976 passengers had traveled to destinations in Taiwan from Shanghai Pudong International Airport since the launch of the flight services, according to tallies compiled by the airport's customs officials.

The direct weekend flights were launched July 4 under an accord signed in Beijing by the heads of Taiwan's quasi-official Straits Exchange Foundation and its Chinese counterpart, the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits.

Up to Aug. 25, passenger numbers for the year to destinations outside China from the Pudong airport were recorded at over 560,000. Hong Kong was a prime destination because of the Olympic equestrian event which was held there, with 84,900 passengers flying from Shanghai to Hong Kong, according to the statistics.