China Southern Airlines to commence new flights to Cairns

China Southern Airlines, China's biggest international airline, is to start new flights to Cairns, its fifth port in Australia, providing a " tourism Renaissance" for Tropical North Queensland, Australian Government agency Tourism Australia said on Wednesday.

China Southern has announced it will start three new weekly flights from Guangzhou to Brisbane via Cairns from December, ahead of the busy Chinese New Year holiday period.

The airline will also increase its existing four weekly flights to Brisbane to a daily service.

Tourism Australia said that China Southern was the second Chinese airline in a month to announce new flights to Cairns.

In July, China Eastern Airline confirmed its new direct flights from Shanghai to Cairns.

Tourism Australia Managing Director Andrew McEvoy said the additional flights would help local tourism operators take advantage of Cairns' growing number of Chinese visitors.

"With Chinese visitors to Cairns up nearly 40 percent last year, the appeal is clearly there," he said in a statement.

"Now with this significant injection of air capacity, so is the improvement in air access we need from Australia's fastest growing and most valuable overseas market."

According to Tourism Australia, China Southern, as a leading carrier on the China-Australia route, carried 22 percent of all Chinese tourists into Australia during 2011.

The airline has opened up direct access between China and Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth in just over two year.

McEvoy said increasing aviation capacity between China and Australia was important for the Australian tourism industry to further benefit from the fast growing markets of Asia.