On June 18, 2019, China Southern Airlines, Asia’s largest airline, began operating three weekly flights from Vienna to Urumqi and Guangzhou in the People’s Republic of China. As a result, two important regions in Northwest China and South China can be reached from Vienna for the first time. This new flight connection was officially inaugurated yesterday in the presence of Julian Jäger, Joint CEO and COO of Vienna Airport, Norbert Kettner, Director of the Vienna Tourist Board and Han Wensheng, COO of China Southern Airlines, marking the initial flight on this new route.
“We would like to welcome China Southern Airlines, Asia’s top carrier and a strong partner, in order to more effectively open up the region. Vienna is the first destination in Central Europe to be included in the route network of China Southern Airlines, and we are very pleased with our new partner at the airport hub”, says Julian Jäger, Joint CEO and COO of Vienna Airport in welcoming the new flight connections to China.
China Southern Airlines’ flights arrive in Vienna on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. A Boeing 787 Dreamliner is deployed on the new route.
“The successful launch of the Guangzhou-Urumqi-Vienna air service marks a bold and exciting step forward that China Southern has taken to transform itself into an international network-oriented airline. This new route will significantly promote the cooperation between China and Austria in economy, trade, tourism, culture and other areas”, said Mr. Han Wensheng, Chief Operating Officer of China Southern Airlines.
China Southern Airlines operates a flight from Vienna, serving two destinations in China at the same time. First, the aircraft takes off from Vienna to fly to Ürümqi, the capital of the autonomous region of Xinjiang Uygur in the northwest of China. Afterwards the flight continues to the important industrial and trading city of Guangzhou, also called the “Factory of the World”. With more than ten million inhabitants, it is the most prominent metropolis along the Pearl River Delta, which is one of the largest contiguous urban areas in the world.
The airline operates its flight hub in Guangzhou, from where passengers can conveniently reach numerous other destinations with China Southern Airlines. By the way, the official symbol of the City of Guangzhou is the “ceiba tree”. A stylised, fiery-red blossom of the Asian tree adorns the logo of China Southern Airlines.
China Southern, the largest airline in Asia and one of the biggest in the world (with respect to the size of its fleet) has a fleet of 840 Boeing and Airbus aircraft. The Chinese airline operates more than 3,000 flights each day to 224 destinations in 40 countries.
