Direct flights between Perth and China will resume 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 beginning November 28 China Southern’s Boeing 787 Dreamliner will be back at Perth three days a week, on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday.
And as ‘redeye’ flights departing Perth at 11.55pm to reach Guangzhou at 7.55am the next day, the best place to be on those Dreamliners will be one of the 28 flatbed business class seats – which use the Vantage XL design and 1-2-1 layout as Qantas’ current 787, A330 and A380 Business Suites – or one of the 28 premium economy recliners.
Guangzhou is China’s fourth largest city, with more than 16 million people, and 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.
With Australians now able to visit China without the hassle or cost a visa, under a new visa-waiver agreement which took effect on July 1, China Southern is betting on an uptick in both business and leisure travel.
“Having an ongoing direct flight link with China is vital to keeping that trade relationship strong into the future and supporting WA’s economy”, notes WA Premier Roger Cook.
“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.”
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.”
Next on that list is reportedly Perth-Shanghai services by China Eastern Airlines, while recent returns have included ANA to Tokyo, Thai Airways to Bangkok and South African Airways to Johannesburg.
Qantas will also begin direct flights from Perth to Paris on July 12, with four long-range Boeing 787 services on the 17-hour route each week until the Paris 2024 Olympics ends in mid-August 2024, at which point the schedule will be wound back to thrice-weekly (Monday, Wednesday and Friday).
Read more: What to expect from Qantas’ non-stop flights to Paris
Paris will join year-round flights to London and a seasonal European summer service to Rome in positioning Perth as Qantas’ western Australia gateway to Europe.
Meanwhile, Qatar Airways is pushing for a second daily Perth-Doha flight as part of a ramp-up which would also boost flights to Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
Also read: Stop, stay, explore – inside Perth’s growth as a stopover hub