China Southern Airlines is set to increase frequency of services between Melbourne Airport and Guangzhou this October from three flights per week to daily operations.
Melbourne Airport CEO Chris Woodruff welcomed the announcement. "China is an important market for Victoria. As one of Melbourne's top long haul international markets, it is forecast to be the airport's number one international visitor market in coming years. This additional capacity will help service this growth with an extra 110,000 seats per year between our two cities and onwards on China Southern's extensive domestic network."
This comes on the back of yesterday's announcement by Qantas of plans to progressively increase A380 services to London and Los Angeles from Melbourne. "This news is a sign of confidence in the Melbourne market, testament to the strength of our economy, our standing as a Global University City and the work of Team Victoria".
Melbourne Airport, by working closely with airlines and service providers has created a Chinese Visitor's Program to ensure Chinese passengers feel welcome when they arrive in Melbourne.
"We are going the extra mile to make sure our Chinese visitors feel welcome and respected on their arrival into Melbourne through Mandarin public address messages, Chinese signage both in arrivals and departures, cultural training for our staff and a Chinese language section on our website" Mr Woodruff said. "We look forward to working with China Southern as they continue to expand their services to Melbourne".
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