China Southern's Airbus A380 superjumbo touches down in Sydney

SYDNEY, Oct. 30 (People's Daily Online) -- China Southern’s first A380 Sydney-Guangzhou service touches down in Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport at 9:25 am on October 28, 2013. China Southern Airlines held a press conference to celebrate the successful arrival of this flight.

President and Chairman of China Southern Airlines, Si Xianmin said that China Southern is the world’s first airline to fly both A380 and B787 airplane. The A380 superjumbo underlines the airline’s commitment to Australia as one of its key overseas markets. China Southern Airlines will take this opportunity to enhance the cooperation with Australia, improve the quality of services and gradually make Guanzhou an exciting bridge connecting Australia with China, Asia, Middle East and Europe.

Consul General of People's Republic of China in Sydney Li Huaxin said, “Recently, Guangzhou applied the 72-hour visa-free transit policy. It’s predictable that personnel exchanges between Guangzhou and Sydney will be more frequent in the days to come. As China’s largest airline and the largest airline carrier between China and Australia, China Southern Airlines has built a stable and convenient air bridge for China-Australia economic and cultural exchanges. Today we have witnessed the first arrival of China Southern Airlines’ Airbus A380 in Sydney. This is more a starting point than a milestone. I’m convinced that China Southern Airlines will achieve greater accomplishments and further promote China-Australia relations from this new starting point”.

The A380 superjumbo service will replace the present CZ326 A330-300 service, which departs Sydney at 11.15 am and arrives in Guangzhou at 5.30 pm the same day. From December, China Southern Airlines will operate 48 weekly flights to the region, with plans to increase to 55 flights by 2015.

A Sydney Airport official estimates that a single daily A380 service from China has the potential to generate 5,000 jobs and contribute around AUD 39 million to the Australian economy over a full year. China Southern Airlines' upgrade from an A330 to a daily A380 is estimated to deliver an additional AUD 100 million in visitor expenditure to the NSW economy.