China Southern’s first Airbus A380 service to Sydney touched down this morning.
The 502-seat A380 replaces A330s on China Southern’s daily CZ325/326 services between Sydney and Guangzhou.
China Southern is now the the fourth airline to fly the A380 to Sydney, along with Qantas, Singapore Airlines and Emirates, making Sydney Airport the world’s fifth busiest A380 airport with 120 flights per week.
“Sydney Airport is excited to welcome China Southern’s A380 aircraft on the popular Guangzhou-Sydney route in time for the busy holiday season and ahead of Chinese New Year,” said Sydney Airport chief executive Kerrie Mather.
“This additional A380 for Sydney will add more than 160,000 annual seats, boosting tourism and trade between Australia and China, delivering a further estimated $100 million in additional annual visitor expenditure to the New South Wales economy, and providing an associated increase in jobs.”