Brisbane Airport Welcomes China Southern Airbus A350 Back After 4 Years

After a break of close to four years, China Southern Airlines has resumed service to Brisbane Airport, the gateway to Queensland and Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. The November 18th arrival also marked a new beginning for organized travel between China and Brisbane as it carried the first groups of Chinese tourists to arrive directly into Brisbane since the pandemic.

Livestreamed for the world to see

Switched-on airports are becoming very good at promoting new services, and yesterday Brisbane Airport (BNE) live-streamed the arrival and accompanying press conference for the world to see. The final barrier to Chinese travelers is now gone, and the China Southern Airlines (China Southern) flight had various tour groups onboard who were traveling under China’s Approved Destination Status scheme.

Photo: BAC I Matt Williams

On November 17th, China Southern flight CZ381 departed Guangzhou Baiyun International (CAN) at 21:38 local time. With a flight duration of eight hours and five minutes, the flight arrived in Brisbane at 07:43 yesterday. Impressively, this was 47 minutes ahead of schedule. The flight was operated with an Airbus A350-900, registration B-30F0 and MSN 411. The aircraft conducted its turnaround and departed for Guangzhou at 10:43 local time, arriving at 17:14.

The route between Guangzhou and Brisbane will initially operate four times weekly. From December 8th, that will increase to a daily frequency as the peak summer demand arrives. Over the next three years, China Southern has the potential to bring in 277,896 visitors to Brisbane, generating approximately AU$440 million (US$295 million) for the visitor economy and supporting 1,790 Queensland jobs.

Photo: Brisbane Airport

Before COVID-19, China was the largest international market for Queensland, accounting for close to 20% of all international arrivals and generating AU$1.6 billion (US$1 billion) in overnight visitor spending in 2019. The A350 operating the November 17th-18th flight (which arrived close to full) has 314 seats configured in a three-class layout of 28 in business, 24 in premium economy, and 262 in economy.

Seamless connections and more exports to China

Brisbane Airport Corporation CEO Gert-Jan de Graaff said the flight supercharges the inbound Chinese tourism market and celebrates both the return of China Southern and the resumption of group travel from China. He added:

“It is the group travel market and their itineraries that will deliver large numbers of tourists from China into this state’s regions, including the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast and the Great Barrier Reef. It is also a restored route for Queensland’s exports to make their way to one of the world’s largest markets.”

Illustrating that last point was the 13,000 kilograms (28,660 pounds) of exports, including Queensland mangoes, that left Australia on the return flight to Guangzhou. Travelers from Queensland can also connect seamlessly to 169 cities in 39 countries from China Southern’s Guangzhou hub, now the 28th international destination serviced directly from Brisbane Airport.

Photo: BAC I Matt Williams

The return of China Southern is one of 26 deals negotiated as part of the Attracting Aviation Investment Fund in partnership with Queensland’s four international airports. Combined, the 26 services are estimated to support nearly 20,000 jobs, and marketing campaigns have already begun in China to drive demand and attract more visitors to Queensland.