China Southern Airlines has become the first airline to operate scheduled 787 services to New Zealand following the arrival in airline’s newly-delivered aircraft in Auckland on October 28.
Operating a daily service, the 787 replaces the airline’s existing A330-operated schedule and increases annual seat capacity by around five per cent. The daily flights will be increased to 10-weekly for the peak summer season. China Southern brought forward its planned introduction of the 787 to the New Zealand market from December to October.
China is New Zealand’s second largest inbound tourism market. In the 12 months to September, more than 236,000 Chinese visitors entered New Zealand, a number that is forecast to double over the next five years.
