Summary
- China Southern has introduced non-stop flights from China to Latin America, returning to Mexico for the first time since 2020.
- While it previously flew from Guangzhou, it now operates Shenzhen-Mexico City, returning via Tijuana.
- This year, it is one of six passenger services between East Asia and Latin America, joining Aeromexico to Seoul and Tokyo, All Nippon from Tokyo to Mexico City, Air China to São Paulo, and (soon) Air China to Havana.
It is not often that changes to the world’s longest routes list occur. But that happened over the weekend, with China Southern returning to Mexico, this time from Shenzhen. It operates non-stop to Mexico City and is the world’s ninth-longest non-stop scheduled passenger service. The return to Mexico came shortly after the carrier began Beijing Daxing-Riyadh and Guangzhou-Doha.
Due to Mexico City’s high elevation, which impacts take-off performance on long flights with heavy payloads, it stops in Tijuana en route home to refuel. Unsurprisingly, Tijuana-Shenzhen tickets are not available.
Hola, China Southern!
The SkyTeam airline is no stranger to Mexico. Between 2017 and 2020, it flew to Mexico City from Guangzhou, the carrier’s primary airport. It operated via Vancouver in both directions. Now China Southern is operating to/from Shenzhen, its third most-served airport by May flights.
Perhaps it switched to Shenzhen as it is close to Guangzhou and Hong Kong. It did not change airports because demand is higher; booking data shows fewer than 4,000 people flew between the two cities in 2019. However, this is misleading, as it does not include those who traveled overland to Guangzhou to get on China Southern’s then-operated services.
What is the schedule?
Shenzhen is an immense 7,639 nautical miles (14,147 km) from Mexico City. Flying via Tijuana on the return only adds 11 nautical miles (20 km), which is partially why the airport was chosen.
The first flight left China on May 11 and runs twice-weekly. It deploys the three-class, 314-seat Airbus A350-900. The current schedule is as follows, with all times local:
- Shenzhen-Mexico City: CZ8031, 21:00-23:00 (16h; same-day arrival)
- Mexico City-Tijuana: CZ8032, 01:00-04:00 (4h); ouch at the times!
- Tijuana-Mexico City: CZ8032, 05:30-12:20+1 (15h 50m)
Why China to Mexico?
The World Bank shows that China is a vital trading partner of Mexico. Many Chinese businesses and related enterprises exist in Mexico, including electrical car production and mobile phones; it’d be interesting to see how much flying management has. Chinese tourists to Mexico are also a significant source of demand.
Photo: Telsek | Shutterstock
Booking data shows that 189,000 passengers flew between the two countries in 2019. Due to the recovery from COVID, it was less than half of that number last year.
With 30% of the traffic, Shanghai-Mexico City was the largest origin-destination; no wonder Aeromexico served it between 2008 and 2019. Elsewhere, Hainan Airlines flew Beijing Capital to Mexico City via Tijuana in both directions between 2018 and 2020.
China’s new longest non-stop route
Shenzhen-Mexico City is China’s longest non-stop passenger service. However, it ranks third when one-stops are added, behind Air China’s Beijing Capital-Madrid-São Paulo and Beijing Capital-Madrid-Havana.
It is China Southern’s longest airport pair, surpassing the previous number one, Guangzhou-New York JFK, by 10%.
Photo: Omid Behzadpour | Shutterstock
It is Mexico’s longest non-stop route, but it ranks second to Emirates’ Dubai-Barcelona-Mexico City operation if one-stop services are included
World’s 10 longest non-stop flights
The list, based on May to September, is as follows. As ever, it is for passenger services only, and it uses the Great Circle, with the real-world distance likely to result in a slightly different order. For space reasons, I haven’t included other details.
- Singapore to New York JFK: 8,287 nautical miles (15,348km)
- Singapore to Newark: 8,285 nautical miles (15,344 km)
- Doha to Auckland: 7,848 nautical miles (14,535 km)
- Perth to London Heathrow: 7,829 nautical miles (14,499 km)
- Dallas/Fort Worth to Melbourne: 7,814 nautical miles (14,479 km)
- Perth to Paris CDG: 7,702 nautical miles (14,264 km)
- Auckland to New York JFK: 7,671 nautical miles (14,207 km)
- Dubai to Auckland: 7,668 nautical miles (14,200 km)
- Shenzhen to Mexico City: 7,639 nautical miles (14,147 km)
- Singapore to Los Angeles: 7,621 nautical miles (14,113 km)
What do you make of it all? Let us know in the comment section.