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World video travel guide
News • New Zealand • 2011-01-11
Direct Auckland - Guangzhou flights announced
Chinese tourists flying to New Zealand will soon have increased and easier access with a new air service between Guangzhou, in southern China, and Auckland.
The direct air passenger service between Guangzhou and Auckland will operate from April 2011, China Southern Airlines announced today (12.01.2011).
The new service replaces an earlier announcement of an air route that would have travelled via Australia.
Widespread support received from New Zealand’s tourism industry and government had been pivotal to the airline’s decision to move immediately to direct services, according to China Southern Airlines president Mr Tan Wan’geng.
China Southern Airlines
China Southern Airlines is Asia’s largest airline, and Auckland Airport chief executive Simon Moutter described the news as "a terrific outcome for New Zealand tourism and for the wider national economy."
The new link would help ensure New Zealand got its fair share of the fastest growing tourism market in the world, Moutter said.
"Having one of the biggest airlines in the world going direct sooner than planned is a fantastic result that will drive more visitors here and offer them more time to see what our country has to offer."
Overnight service
The first of the three-times-a-week direct overnight services is scheduled to commence on 8 April 2011.
Flights will depart Guangzhou at 2350 and arrive in Auckland at 1520 the next day, and depart Auckland at 2200 and arrive in Guangzhou at 0600 the next day.
The schedule would provide excellent connectivity with China Southern Airlines’ extensive network both internationally and throughout China, Moutter said.
For the local visitor economy, the new service would be worth an annual economic impact "likely to be at least $75 million", he said.
Developing China market
Tourism New Zealand chief Kevin Bowler said the service would provide a significant springboard for developing the China market.
"The China visitor market is critical to New Zealand as the growth in the number of Chinese with the means and inclination to travel internationally is booming. Expectations are that the number of international departures from China will double in five years, from 50 million to 100 million travellers," Bowler said.
"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, it has the third highest GDP per capita. It is a mature market in terms of travel selections and travel style expectations and New Zealand as a distinct holiday destination has a lot to offer.
"With the move to establish direct services from Guangdong that make it easier for travellers from across China to visit New Zealand, there is significant potential for us to attract longer staying visitors and to grow China into our third largest tourism market."
Chinese visitors to New Zealand
A surge in Chinese visitor numbers helped New Zealand record a 3% increase in total visitor arrivals in November 2010.
Statistics New Zealand arrival data showed that 14,875 Chinese visitors arrived in New Zealand during November, an increase of 34.5% on November 2009 and an all-time record for Chinese visitors in a November month.
November visitor numbers from other Asian markets were also up: South Korea (41.3%), India (23.9%) and Japan (4.3%), contributing 17,200 visitors, and an increase of 2,664 on the same month last year.
Arrivals from China had been phenomenal, showing growth of 15% over the year until the end of November, Tourism New Zealand chief executive Kevin Bowler said.
New Asia air links
Further growth was expected in Asia with a series of new air links opening in 2011, including a China Airlines route linking Taipei to Auckland, and a Jetstar service from Singapore to Auckland, Bowler said.
Other new routes opening this year include an AirAsia X direct service between Kuala Lumpur and Christchurch.
Thai Airways has announced plans to increase flights on its Bangkok to Auckland route, from five per week to seven in July 2011. And Singapore Airlines will increase its Singapore to Christchurch service to seven days year-round from 30 March 2011.
