China Southern Announces Massive Expansion

China Southern Airlines has unveiled plans to expand its international network as demand rises significantly.

Per Reuters, the airline is slated to launch 17 international routes. The major expansion comes as the international travel demand rates continue to pick back up following a turbulent few years.

China Southern and other nearby airlines were some of the most impacted by the global pandemic. As several regions recovered, China lagged with persistent restrictions, ruining airlines’ ability to resume critical routes. Thus, they’re still playing catch-up.

International recovery data per executives at the airline highlight a steady improvement that has seen it recover to around 80% of pre-pandemic figures. However, by the end of the 2024 calendar year, the ambition would be for this to reach closer towards 90% if possible.

These airline figures are considered promising despite still not being at pre-pandemic levels. Other airlines in the region have reported similar recovery paces, if not at times better, with the resumption of key services also aligning with the ungrounding of several aircraft types.

Cities such as Amsterdam, London, Doha, Riyadh, and Tehran will be added as part of the airline’s latest routes to join its network before October 26.

Ultimately, once launched, these destinations are expected to fuel further passenger figures and boost connectivity for travel across China and broader Asia. The specifics around each respective service launch haven’t been publicly disclosed, but this will be revealed in due course.