China Southern Airlines, undaunted by a serious downturn in local demand, is flying 12% more flights than a year earlier in the winter-spring schedule that began on the weekend. The Guangzhou-based carrier, China’s largest, is introducing direct services from its home city to Sydney, Melbourne, Dubai and Delhi, and is also connecting Shenyang, a big industrial city in the country’s northeast, with Singapore.

Asiana affiliate Air Busan began flying on Oct. 26 after receiving delayed approval from the transport ministry. The carrier, described as a budget airline, is part owned by the city government of Busan. Its first flight connected that city with Seoul Gimpo Airport. Plans include international services and flights to the resort island Jeju.

China has opened an airport that ranks as the world’s second-highest, with an altitude of 4,280 meters (14,040 ft.). The airport, at Kangding in the southwestern province Sichuan, is part of a national strategy of building airports in remote places as cheaper alternatives to roads and railways. The strategy has been cited as one reason for building the ARJ21 regional jet of Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China, whose initial version is tailored for hot and high operations.