China Southern Airlines to start direct flights to Auckland

China Southern Airlines shuns Melbourne for direct route to Auckland

by Paul McBeth

Jan. 12 (BusinessDesk) – China Southern Airlines Co., China’s biggest carrier, will bypass Melbourne in favour of a direct Guangzhou-Auckland route, bolstering the projected economic benefit of the new service by half.

Last month the airline flagged a three-times-a-week service via Melbourne, but has ditched the Australian stopover after New Zealand government officials and Auckland tourism representatives affirmed their support for the route.

That’s boosted the estimated injection into the Auckland economy to an annual $75 million from a previous forecast of $50 million.

Meetings with officials “gave us the confidence that the New Zealand market opportunity will be a great success and can lead to even greater opportunities for China Southern Airlines and our partners in the region,” president and chief executive Tan Wan’geng said in a statement. “Although we always envisaged moving eventually to direct flights if the service via Melbourne proved successful, we have now decided to make this commitment from day one.”

Rising numbers of Chinese visitors helped underpin New Zealand’s tourism market as the world’s most populous nation managed to avoid the worst effects of the global financial crisis.

Auckland International Airport Ltd., the country’s major gateway, reported a 3.8% increase in foreign visitors in November, due to more Chinese and South Korean arrivals.

Prime Minister John Key, who also holds the tourism portfolio, has sought to drive the sector since winning office in 2008, last year injecting a further $30 million into attracting new visitors to New Zealand.

Tourism New Zealand chief executive Kevin Bowler said China is “critical” to New Zealand, which needs to capitalise on the expected doubling of international departures from the world’s biggest nation to 100 million over the next five years.

“Attracting visitors from southern China specifically to holiday in New Zealand has always been challenging due to a lack of airline capacity, yet Guangdong region is a power house of Chinese industry,” Bowler said. Shares in Auckland Airport rose 0.5% to $2.20 in trading today, and rose 9% last year.

(BusinessDesk) 10:50:20

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