China airline doubles its flights to Australia

ASIA'S biggest airline is more than doubling its capacity to Australia within the next month.

The move comes as the airline seeks to capitalise on growing tourism links with China.

China Southern will this month increase from 10 flights a week over Sydney and Melbourne to 24 to Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

The new schedule includes moves at the end of October to double the daily Sydney- Guangzhou flights and the daily Melbourne-Guangzhou flights, as well as a new three-times-a-week service to Brisbane, due to start on November 2.

The airline briefly flew to Brisbane in the late 1990s but cancelled the service when the Asian economic crisis hit.

The new services, using a mix of Airbus A330-300 and A330-200 Model Aircraft, boost the presence of the SkyTeam aviation alliance in Australia.

SkyTeam, whose members servicing Australia include Korean Airlines and Delta Air Lines, is a rival to the oneworld and Star Alliance groupings that have traditionally dominated the market here.

The capacity increase comes after China Southern struck a strategic business development and marketing deal with Tourism Australia and will focus on developing outbound as well as inbound markets.

China Southern spokesman Bill Bryant said the airline was increasing staff in Australia to cope with the expansion.

Sydney and Melbourne airports last month identified China as a major driver of international traffic growth.

Melbourne reported a 58 per cent increase in Chinese passport-holders compared with August last year, and Sydney figures are up 52 per cent.

In Melbourne, the number of Chinese passengers outstripped visitors from Britain for the first time, and the airport managers said they were preparing for further growth as Chinese carriers boost capacity.

Sydney remains the biggest destination for Chinese visitors, but Melbourne now has a higher growth rate for Chinese passengers, and sees China and India as major future markets.

However, doubt remains about the future of promised Air India flights to Melbourne after the Indian government stepped in on a deal to fly services to the Victorian capital.

Indian media reports said the plan was shot down by an independent director, who told the Civil Aviation Ministry the route would not be economically viable and would add to the losses of the cash-strapped airline.

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