China Southern Airlines has launched a third weekly flight from Melbourne to Guangzhou (formerly Canton). The new service will run until the end of March, 2010. The new flight schedule, which introduces a Saturday departure, is being introduced in two phases.

In phase one, from now until 26 October 2009, China Southern will depart Melbourne every Monday, Thursday and Saturday morning, flying via Sydney to Guangzhou. Flight CZ 322 will depart Melbourne at 7.05am, then will continue via Sydney, from where it will depart at 9.50am. The flight is due to arrive in Guangzhou at 5.00pm local time.

In phase two of the new schedule – during daylight saving in Victoria, from 26 October, 2009, until 25 March, 2010 – the three Melbourne – Guangzhou flights will operate nonstop. During this period, flight CZ 322 will continue to depart Melbourne every Monday, Thursday and Saturday, but at the new time of 10.40am, still arriving in Guangzhou at 5.00pm local time.

All China Southern flights from Melbourne will be operated by Airbus A330-200 aircraft, capable of seating up to 264 passengers – 24 in Premium Business Class and 240 in Economy. “The introduction of a third weekly flight from Melbourne to Guangzhou, and the move to nonstop flights from late October reflects our confidence in the Victorian market,” said James Liu, General Manager Australia for China Southern Airlines. “It also provides not only additional seats for business and holiday travellers to China and beyond, but additional air cargo space for exporters.”

As a member of the SkyTeam global airline alliance, China Southern can also offer onward travel with partner airlines from China or other destinations. China Southern is one of 11 full member airlines of SkyTeam, which offers more than 16,700 flights per day to 905 destinations in 169 countries.