The carrier today announced its plan to operate five flights between Christchurch Airport and its hub at Guangzhou for five months from the end of October, a 52 per cent rise in capacity compared to last summer.
China Southern initially started with three services a week to Christchurch direct from Guangzhou in 2015. It then increased to daily flights to meet the rising demand but was forced to suspend its Christchurch service in February 2020 after the Covid pandemic hit.
It re-started the route in May this year with three flights a week using a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner.
Christchurch Airport general manager of aeronautical development, Gordon Beavan, said the airport has committed to working more closely with the airline.
“We know China’s high value passengers - and those who come from further afield on this direct service - want to experience all the South Island of New Zealand has to offer.
“We recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding on our aligned goals, which include further building the attraction of the South Island in the shoulder seasons. One of the aims of this work is to meet increasing interest from China’s travellers to ski here and we hope China Southern will be flying here year-round before much longer,” he said.
China Southern Airlines has the largest fleet in China, with more than 600 aircraft.
Tourism New Zealand figures show Chinese visitors ranked as New Zealand’s second-largest international tourism market with 407,000 visitors in 2019.
On average, each visitor spent $476 a day and about half stayed for more than a week.
