In an indication that it anticipates an increase in foreign travel this year, China Southern Airlines announced on Monday that it will be adding 17 new international routes in addition to operating its maiden flight between Beijing and Macau.
During a Beijing event, the airline said that the routes would go live before October 26. According to airline executives, the additional routes would travel to Tehran, Amsterdam, London, Doha, and Riyadh.
The largest gaming hub in the world is located in Macau, a special administrative area of China that is also a well-liked tourist destination.
After the easing of pandemic restrictions in early 2023, China’s international airline sector has only barely rebounded, finding it difficult to keep up with gains in domestic travel as customers continue to be price-sensitive in a weak economy.
As of now, China Southern’s international route network has returned to 80% of 2019 levels. According to Chen Ling, a deputy manager in China Southern’s north China marketing department, the airline thinks the additional routes will help bring it to 85% by the end of this year.
The depreciation of the yuan, weak consumer buying power, supply chain issues, and the cost of jet fuel were the reasons given by China Southern, one of the country’s three state carriers, for its 4.1 billion yuan annual loss disclosed last Wednesday.
Nonetheless, there is a lot of optimism that this year would see improvements in foreign travel from China.
China’s aviation authority stated in January that by the end of this year, it anticipates that there will be 6,000 weekly foreign flights to and from the nation, which is approximately 80% of pre-COVID levels.
