OREANDA-NEWS. Auckland Airport has welcomed the decision by China Southern Airlines to increase its Guangzhou to Auckland service to ten flights each week.

The decision will mean the number of flights on the Guangzhou to Auckland route will increase from seven to ten weekly flights over the 2013 / 2014 peak summer period and will also see a brand new Boeing 787 aircraft put on the route for the three additional flights.

Glenn Wedlock, Auckland Airport general manager aeronautical commercial, is delighted with the announcement and says that the airport and China Southern have been working closely together for the past year to achieve this outcome.

“We have been very focused in recent years on growing connections between New Zealand and China to ensure we capture growth out of this booming market,” says Mr Wedlock. “This most recent increase in services by China Southern Airlines will cover the 2014 Chinese New Year which is the busiest time for Chinese to travel.”

“The 2013 Chinese New Year saw Auckland Airport welcome a record high volume of Chinese passengers and this new increase in services provides the capacity to reach a new record for the 2014 Chinese New Year. We also saw a 30% increase in arrivals from China for the year ending May 2013 which meant almost 50,000 extra Chinese visitors - nearly two and half times the increase in Australian visitors for the year.”

“On top of this, the benefit in pure tourism spend from China is now almost USD 700 million which has grown by over USD 300 million since China Southern first commenced services to New Zealand in 2011. We anticipate that these latest extra flights will add at least a further USD 30 million in spend over the peak summer period this year. This will not only directly benefit the New Zealand tourism economy but the improved airfreight access over this critical period will also benefit the wider export economy.”

The additional flights will see an extra 18,000 seats on the Guangzhou to Auckland route during the summer peak period of 4 Dec 2013 to 28 Feb 2014 and the use of the brand new Boeing 787 aircraft will mean it is the first New Zealand Boeing 787 route.

China Southern Airlines general manager New Zealand, Mr Mike Ma, says that launching the first Boeing 787 long haul route is a significant milestone for China Southern Airlines and shows the commitment the airline has to the New Zealand market.

“China Southern has seen great increase in demand from the China market for our New Zealand services and the rapid capacity growth that the Guangzhou to Auckland route has experienced is an obvious reflection of this.”

Mr Henry He, China Southern Airlines general manager Australasia, adds that Australasia is one of China Southern Airlines' key focus markets. “We are impressed with the success our service has seen so far in Australasia and these additional summer services reflect the high demand we have experienced and the confidence we have in these markets moving forward.”