Cairns is getting its first year-round flights to mainland China after a deal was announced with China Southern Airlines to operate service from Guangzhou.
Three flights a week direct from Guangzhou to Cairns kick off in December and will ‘create profound opportunities’ for Tropical North Queensland tourism.
China Southern will operate the flights on A330-200 aircraft.
The service is worth in extra A$90 million in overnight visitor spending over three years, said Tourism Tropical North Queensland chair Max Shepherd.
"Direct flights will allow us to tap into the positive response from both the Chinese travel industry at the recent Australian Tourism Exchange and the rapidly growing online travel agents in China," he said.
The flights are a result of work by the Queensland Government’s $33.5 million Advance Queensland: Connecting with Asia initiative, Shepherd said.
"We look forward to rolling out the red carpet for China Southern’s first flight in December. The service from Guangzhou will provide more convenient access to Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef for the world’s largest visitor source market," said Cairns Airport CEO Norris Carter.
