China Southern Airlines will increase frequencies on existing flights between Australia and China as well as fly to more destinations in that country as it seeks to tap travel demand between the two countries.
The country's largest carrier by fleet size has signed a strategic partnership with Tourism Australia to cooperate jointly in marketing and tapping passenger resources. The move is part of the Guangzhou-based airline's efforts to cushion the impact on its revenue posed by the introduction of more domestic high-speed railway services.
International flights account for only 17 percent of its network and the carrier plans to boost that to 30 percent, its chairman, Si Xianmin, said in an earlier interview.
China Southern will start flying between Guangzhou and Brisbane from November 1 when it operates three flights weekly.
"More people travel between China and Australia," the airline said. "Brisbane, the third-largest city in Australia after Sydney and Melbourne, is also the capital of Queensland which has a lot of students from China."
From October 31 China Southern will also raise flight frequencies between Guangzhou and Sydney from daily to two flights a day, and between Guangzhou and Melbourne from three times weekly to daily flights.
