Latest airline from China due to touch down in Auckland tomorrow

On board a Sichuan Airlines aircraft.

Sichuan Airlines, the latest of a growing list of Chinese carriers flying into Auckland, is due to arrive tomorrow.

The airline will fly three times a week between Auckland and Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province in China's interior, famed for panda bear sanctuaries and its hot pot cuisine.

Its arrival will bring the number of direct services between Auckland and the Chinese mainland to 42 a week, a number that will grow next summer.

The big three mainland carriers - China Southern, China Eastern and Air China - already fly here, along with Hainan and Tianjin airlines which have opened up big regional cities.

Sichuan's A330-200 service is expected to add 81,000 seats a year and deliver an estimated $102 million annual boost to the New Zealand economy

The airline's chairman, Li Haiyang, and Chengdu mayor Luo Qiang will be on the inaugural flight, which will open up western China for New Zealanders.

Sichuan Airlines' general manager in New Zealand, J.C Zhi, said flights here were part of a global push to open up the "Panda Route" to Chengdu and beyond by the airline, which was founded just on 30 years ago.

Sichuan Airlines has 123 aircraft and will have 180 by 2020, including Airbus A350s.

The airline wanted to "make a statement" and had sold some promotional return fares for under $500. Zhi said more cheap fares would be on sale.

Like other Chinese airlines, Sichuan is state-owned.

Air New Zealand also flies to Shanghai 10 times a week and to Hong Kong seven times a week from Auckland. Cathay Pacific and Hong Kong Airlines also operate daily services between Hong Kong and Auckland.