Economic boost tipped from China air deal

File photo

China Southern Airlines, China's biggest carrier, will bypass Melbourne in favour of a direct Guangzhou-Auckland route, bolstering the projected economic benefit of the new service by half.

Last month the airline flagged a three-times-a-week service via Melbourne, but has ditched the Australian stopover after New Zealand government officials and Auckland tourism representatives affirmed their support for the route.

Air New Zealand today welcomed the news which boosted the estimated injection into the Auckland economy to annual $75 million from a previous forecast of $50 million.

The service is due to start April 30 this year.

The service complemented Air New Zealand's existing direct services between Auckland and both Shanghai and Beijing, Air New Zealand deputy chief executive Norm Thompson said.

It would open up a third direct route which had not previously been available which could only be good for New Zealand tourism as a whole, he said.

"We view this as a much more positive initiative than the previously mooted indirect service via Melbourne which would only have added to the congestion in the already over-serviced trans-Tasman market."

Meanwhile China Southern Airlines president and chief executive Tan Wan'geng said in a statement that meetings with officials "gave us the confidence that the New Zealand market opportunity will be a great success and can lead to even greater opportunities for China Southern Airlines and our partners in the region."

"Although we always envisaged moving eventually to direct flights if the service via Melbourne proved successful, we have now decided to make this commitment from day one."

Rising numbers of Chinese visitors helped underpin New Zealand's tourism market as the world's most populous nation managed to avoid the worst effects of the global financial crisis.

Auckland International Airport, the country's major gateway, reported a 3.8 per cent increase in foreign visitors in November, due to more Chinese and South Korean arrivals.

Prime Minister John Key, who also holds the tourism portfolio, has sought to drive the sector since winning office in 2008, last year injecting a further $30 million into attracting new visitors to New Zealand.

Tourism New Zealand chief executive Kevin Bowler said China is "critical" to New Zealand, which needs to capitalise on the expected doubling of international departures from the world's biggest nation to 100 million over the next five years.

"Attracting visitors from southern China specifically to holiday in New Zealand has always been challenging due to a lack of airline capacity, yet Guangdong region is a power house of Chinese industry,"
Bowler said.

The new Guangzhou-to-Auckland route will initially be served by A330-300 aircraft (284-seat, four-class) and this equates to over 88,000 additional seats on offer each year.

Guangzhou (formerly Canton) is the capital of the Guangdong province with a population of close to 12 million people, and is the main manufacturing hub of the Pearl River Delta. It has been a sister city with Auckland since 1989.

Shares in Auckland Airport rose 0.5 per cent to $2.20 in trading today, and rose 9 per cent last year.


-WITH NZ HERALD