China Southern Airlines boosts capacity on NZ services

China Southern Airlines, the only Chinese airline flying direct between China and New Zealand, is to increase its Guangzhou-Auckland service from once daily to 10 times a week over the 2013-2014 peak summer period.

The airline would also put a new Boeing 787 aircraft on the route for the three additional flights.

Glenn Wedlock, Auckland Airport general manager aeronautical commercial, said the increase in services would cover the 2014 Chinese New Year, the busiest time for Chinese to travel.

The 2013 Chinese New Year saw a record number of Chinese travelers through the airport and the new increase in services provided the capacity to reach a new record for the 2014 Chinese New Year.

"We also saw a 30-percent increase in arrivals from China for the year ending May 2013, which meant almost 50,000 extra Chinese visitors - nearly two and half times the increase in Australian visitors for the year," Wedlock said in a statement.

Chinese tourist spending was almost 700 million NZ dollars ($550. 14 million) annually, up by more than 300 million NZ dollars since China Southern first commenced services to New Zealand in 2011.

"We anticipate that these latest extra flights will add at least a further 30 million NZ dollars in spend over the peak summer period this year. This will not only directly benefit the New Zealand tourism economy, but the improved airfreight access over this critical period will also benefit the wider export economy."

The additional flights would see an extra 18,000 seats on the Guangzhou-Auckland route from Dec. 4 this year to Feb. 28 next year.

China Southern Airlines general manager New Zealand Mike Ma said the launch of the carrier's first Boeing 787 long haul route showed its commitment to the New Zealand market.

"China Southern has seen great increase in demand from the China market for our New Zealand services and the rapid capacity growth that the Guangzhou to Auckland route has experienced is an obvious reflection of this," Ma said in the statement.