China Southern Airlines inaugural flight lands in Adelaide
December 13, 2016:
(PHOTO: Touch-down by David Hales)
The inaugural flight of the world’s third largest carrier – China Southern Airlines – lands at Adelaide Airport this morning, heralding a massive boost to the State’s visitor economy. The flight is the State’s first direct service from mainland China, with three weekly flights operating between Guangzhou and Adelaide on an Airbus A330-200. The service is expected to inject an annual $23.4 million dollars into South Australia’s record visitor economy. Chinese visitors currently contribute $240 million to the visitor economy with a target set for $450 million by 2020. China Southern Airlines President, Mr Tan Wangeng, led a delegation to Adelaide on the maiden flight, recognising the growing commercial and tourism opportunities between Guangzhou and Adelaide.
(PHOTO: Media Scrum by Adelaide plane spotter, Eric Erickson)
SA State Premier said, “The State Government is honoured to welcome China Southern Airlines and President Tan to Adelaide. The introduction of flights from one of the world’s largest airlines will be instrumental in boosting South Australia’s international profile and economy. This partnership will not only provide positive impacts for tourism, trade, education and investment but will create hundreds of jobs across the State. China is South Australia’s largest trade partner and the State Government is committed to expanding and identifying opportunities of mutual benefit across all sectors. With the addition of China Southern four new international routes have begun flying in to Adelaide since April 2011, with international seat numbers increasing by 58 per cent.”
(PHOTO: Water Cannon Salute by Adelaide plane spotter, Victoria Scholastica)
(PHOTO: Water Cannon Salute by Adelaide plane spotter, Tony Haynes)
SA Minister for Tourism, Leon Bignell had the following to say, “The State Government is doing everything it can to grow our visitor economy and securing China Southern is a huge win for South Australia. It’s so important our State is ready for Chinese visitors and we have been working hard behind the scenes to ensure their overall experience in SA is the best it can possibly be. For the first time visitors will be greeted with Chinese language signs at Adelaide Airport, on our main roads and key spots in the city. The State Government has also conducted China Ready workshops with tourism operators in all of the State’s regions. The visitor economy drives job growth in South Australia and, each day, we are literally surrounded by thousands of visitors from interstate and overseas. They are travellers who pump almost $6 billion into our economy. Today is an incredibly exciting day for South Australia and the transformation of our economy – not only in tourism but also for our exports. We want to fill the cargo holds of China Southern planes with our premium food and wine. This new route will create additional opportunities for tourism and trade for both cities. It’s a win-win in every possibly way.
(PHOTO: Chine Southern Greets Adelaide by David Wilkie, fiveDME)
Mark Young, Managing Director of Adelaide Airport said, “We are delighted to attract our first mainland China service, further expanding Adelaide’s international network. This new service creates significant inbound and outbound tourism opportunities as well as attractive export links into one of China’s largest cities, and in turn providing one-stop access to destinations across China. It also links Adelaide with China Southern’s Canton Route into Europe and the UK via its Guangzhou hub. We’re aware that there is strong demand from Chinese visitors for experiences that Adelaide and South Australia have to offer. The service will also connect the significant number of friends and families who live in the two regions.”
(PHOTO: Exchange of Gifts by David Wilkie, fiveDME)
The team fiveDME are please to see yet another airline take to the stage at Adelaide. Lots of people are involved in these negotiation and it just doesn’t happen without a lot of effort. Hopefully, Adelaide aviation enthusiasts will now have even more to catalouge.
(PHOTO: Meeting our locals by David Wilkie, fiveDME)
We’d like to thank the members of Adelaide Plane Spotting for giving us coverage from additional angles which made our job easier. We connot be everywhere at once.
Thank you!
