One of China’s three major air carriers, China Southern Airlines, has announced plans for 17 more international routes with a fanfare as it launched its first operation between Beijing and Macao on Monday, 1 April 2024.
17 new routes by autumn 2024
The world’s sixth-largest passenger carrier and a member of the SkyTeam alliance, China Southern Airlines already operates to more than 190 destinations in China, Asia, Europe, Oceania and North America, flying to 35 countries at present. It has hubs in Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport, as well as at Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport (CKG), Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK) and Ürümqi Diwopu International Airport (URC).
Although the full range of soon-to-be-added destinations has not yet been confirmed, the list will include Amsterdam, Doha, London, Riyadh and Tehran. The new routes are expected to come online by the autumn, airline officials said at a Beijing press event.
Only 80% of pre-pandemic traffic
China’s domestic travel sector has started to recover since the tight restrictions imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic, but with consumer confidence about spending low, international aviation has been comparatively slow to take off again. China has changed a number of its visa requirements as part of a drive to address this.
Reflecting the national picture, China Southern’s international operations remain at only 80% of pre-pandemic year, 2019. This has translated into poor annual figures. Released at the end of March, they reveal an annual loss of 4.1 billion yuan (526 million euros). The firm put the poor performances down to fuel costs, struggles with its suppliers and weak consumer spending power as well as the falling value of the yuan.
New routes to boost figures
According to China Southern marketing manager, Chen Ling, the new routes are intended to be part of a boost to the company’s figures, with the airline hoping for a 5% uptick as a result, taking them to 85% recovery by the end of the year.
The new route from Beijing to Macao will be a key part of that strategy. Macao, a special administrative region of China that is home to the world’s biggest gambling complex, draws huge numbers of visitors, averaging 77,000 a day, the vast majority (90%) of whom are from mainland or Greater China. This represents a recovery of 71.6% compared to 2019’s 39.4 million visitors.
In fact 2023 closed on a high for Macao, with a new record (since 2019) for single day visitors entering the region set at 175,030 on New Year’s Eve, according to data in a statement from the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO).
