China Southern Airlines announces fifth Australian destination in Cairns

China Southern Airlines confirmed (15-Aug-2012) plans to trial a three times weekly service to Cairns on the Guangzhou-Brisbane-Cairns-Guangzhou route from Dec-2012 for four months, making Cairns China Southern's fifth Australian destination. China Southern and Tourism Australia also signed a cooperative marketing agreement, which also includes partnership agreements with Destination New South Wales, Tourism Western Australia and Tourism Victoria, which will see more than AUD9 million (USD9.4 million) invested over the next year. Tourism Australia MD Andrew McEvoy said "these agreements are strategically very significant with China Southern", the largest carrier in China and the China-Australia sector, responsible for carrying 22% of all Chinese tourists into Australia in 2011. Cairns Airport CEO Kevin Brown welcomed the announcement, saying "we will continue to work with China Southern to secure a permanent direct service." As previously reported, China Eastern Airlines last month announced plans to launch three times weekly Shanghai Pudong-Cairns service with A330-200 equipment from 30-Oct-2012. Queensland Government estimates the route will bring tens of millions of additional revenue p/a to the state. In the first three months of 2012, Chinese tourists to Queensland increased 16% year-on-year, bringing in USD403 million in revenue. China Southern reported it transported 306,800 passengers to Australia in 1H2012, an increase of 28.4% year-on-year. [more - original PR - Cairns Airport] [more - original PR - Tourism Australia] [more - original PR - China Southern Airlines]