Melbourne Airport: China Southern Airlines adds new service from Melbourne to Shenzhen

China Southern is one of the largest carriers in the world with more than 700 domestic and freight aircraft in its fleet. It also has the largest number of seats to China from Melbourne Airport.

The airline's inaugural flight will depart Melbourne Airport on Friday 2 June at 8am.

China Southern will operate three flights per week on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday leaving Melbourne at 8am on an Airbus 330-200.

Melbourne Airport Chief of Aviation Simon Gandy said he welcomes the airline's decision to expand its offering.

"We are delighted to welcome China Southern's new non-stop service from Melbourne to Shenzhen as it's now one of China's largest and wealthiest cities popular for its high tech industry, theme parks, shopping and parks," Mr Gandy said.

"This is the second airline in less than two weeks to announce it will fly non-stop to Shenzhen, proving just how strong the interest is in the China-Melbourne market.

"China Southern has been flying out of Melbourne since December 2000 and in that time has continued to provide a broad range of travel options for Victorians. This latest announcement means our travellers will have access to nine Chinese destinations via the airline."