China Southern Airlines returns to Brisbane, locks in daily flights

Nature is returning to Brisbane. And by nature, we mean additional international carriers, with China Southern Airlines the latest to make its way back to the sunny Queensland capital.

The rebooted connection between Brisbane and Guangzhou initially takes wing four times a week, though soon ramps up to daily from December 8 to February 25. The carrier – China’s largest by fleet – expects to make that increase permanent over two years.

In the meantime, flights adhere to the following schedule:

• CZ382 from Brisbane jets off at 10:10am on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, touching down in Guangzhou at 5:25pm.
• CZ381 departs Guangzhou at 9:20pm every Friday, Sunday, Monday and Wednesday, before arriving into Brisbane Airport at 8:30am the following morning.

China Southern’s A350 business class features 28 lie-flat Recaro seats in a 1-2-1 – the same found on El Al’s 787 Dreamliner – followed by a small premium economy cabin of 24 seats in a 2-4-2 layout.

Of course, China Southern isn’t the first Chinese carrier to return to the gates of Brisbane – rival China Eastern Airlines narrowly pipped it to the post, when flights to Shanghai resumed on November 1.

A previous member of the SkyTeam Alliance, from which it withdrew in late 2019, China Southern is currently a free agent though is widely tipped to join Oneworld Alliance.

Brisbane Airport has taken significant strides in enticing global airlines back to the state in recent times, thanks chiefly to its $200 million Attracting Aviation Investment Fund, a joint Queensland Government and airports venture to supercharge the state’s visitor economy.

To date, 26 services have been made possible through the fund, including those to San Francisco and Los Angeles on United Airlines, Vancouver on Air Canada, and Seoul with Korean Air. Cathay Pacific to Hong Kong also enters the mix on December 1.