China Southern Airlines is expanding its Australian network with two new routes from Beijing Daxing Airport (PKX) starting later this year.
Beginning Dec. 13, the carrier plans to launch flights from China’s capital to Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport, operating four times per week using Airbus A330-300 aircraft. The route will be China Southern’s first to Australia from PKX.
The following day, the airline will start operations between PKX and Melbourne Airport, with flights three times per week onboard A330-300s configured with 28 business-class seats and 258 economy-class seats.
Greg Botham, Sydney Airport’s group executive of aviation growth and strategy, says the new flights to Sydney represent “another step” in the airport’s goal of improving connectivity with mainland China. “With the market recovering to nearly 90% in the first half of 2024 and peaking at a remarkable 97% in July, these new flights will not only add much-needed capacity, but also provide a strong impetus for further recovery,” Botham says.
China Southern plans to operate the new routes for an initial 10-week season. The carrier currently offers four nonstop routes between China and Australia, flying to Sydney from Guangzhou and Shenzhen, as well as to Brisbane and Melbourne from Guangzhou.
According to data from OAG Schedules Analyser, China Southern is offering nearly 18,800 two-way seats on its China-Australia routes, which represents about 86% of the capacity available at this time in 2019.
The airline currently holds a 28% capacity share of the market between China and Australia, behind China Eastern Airlines at 31%. The third-largest operator is Xiamen Airlines, with a 10.8% share.
The planned launch of the services from PKX come as Air China confirmed it intends to increase frequencies between Beijing Capital and Sydney from 4X-weekly to daily, commencing on Oct. 28. Additionally, China Southern will resume a 3X-weekly Guangzhou-Adelaide service from Dec. 12 for the first time since before the pandemic.
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