China Southern will begin flying its A380 aircraft daily non-stop between Guangzhou and Sydney starting October 27. The service will be the second long-haul route that the airline’s superjumbo operates to, after Los Angeles.
The Guangzhou-based carrier currently has five A380s in its fleet, but operates them mainly on domestic or short routes, to cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong.
The service to Sydney will add 162,060 seats to the route annually and is expected to contribute AU$118 million (US$113.5 million) in visitor expenditure to the city’s economy.
China Southern’s A380 features a three-class configuration, with eight first class seats, 70 business class seats and 428 economy class seats. First class is located on the main deck, along with 352 economy seats. The upper deck offers a further 76 seats in economy class, followed by the business class cabin. For everything you need to know about the airline's superjumbo, click here.
Flight CZ325 will depart Guangzhou’s Baiyun Airport at 2105 and touch down in Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport the following day at 0905. The return leg will see flight CZ326 leave Sydney at 1115 and arriving back in Guangzhou at 1730 the same day.
It should also be noted that transiting in Guangzhou is now easier that ever with the recent introduction of the 72-hour visa-free entry for foreign travellers from over 40 countries, including Australia (see here).
*Update – Due to the poor load factor on the A380, China Southern has announced that it will instead use the smaller A330 aircraft to service the route from February next year.
For more information, visit www.csair.com/en/
Clement Huang
