China Southern restarts Perth-Guangzhou flights

Direct flights between Perth and China will restart in November with China Southern connecting the WA capital to its bustling hub at Guangzhou.

It’s been four long years since these flights were scrubbed at the onset of the pandemic, but from November 28 the China Southern 787 Dreamliner will be back at Perth three days a week, on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday.

The Dreamliners have 28 flatbed business class seats – using the same Vantage XL design and 1-2-1 layout as Qantas’ current 787, A330 and A380 Business Suites – along with a further 28 premium economy recliners.

WA Premier Roger Cook is predictably upbeat on the news, especially since his government has been lobbying multiple airlines to put Perth back on their network maps.

“Having an ongoing direct flight link with China is vital to keeping that trade relationship strong into the future and supporting WA’s economy”, Cook says.

“More than half of our State’s exports go to China, and hundreds of thousands of WA jobs rely on our trading relationship.”

In addition, China is of course “a major tourist market for WA, and we know that Chinese visitors are big spenders when they visit our State – supporting our local hospitality and tourism businesses.”

Guangzhou is China’s fourth largest city, with more than 16 million people, and as a key port city and capital of the thriving Guangdong Province and the Pearl River Delta Economic Zone it’s become a magnet for high technology, manufacturing and foreign trade as well as a leading financial centre and economic powerhouse in the Asia Pacific.

And of course, Guangzhou is also home to the Canton Fair international trade show, a sprawling export-oriented affair with over 25,000 exhibitors.

And “Guangzhou is just the beginning,” says Cook.

“We’ll continue to work to establish new flight routes that will support WA jobs and help to keep our economy strong into the future.”