China Southern Airlines has confirmed its ongoing commitment to the Australian market, today announcing the first services to Cairns and increased flights to Brisbane during the summer holiday peak.

At a joint press conference with Tourism Australia in Guangzhou, China Southern CEO and President Tan Wangeng said the airline would soon begin services to Cairns.

“China Southern will open the Guangzhou to Cairns route and raise the flight frequency of other existing Australian routes this year,” he said.

“It is expected that by the end of 2015, China Southern flights to Australia will exceed 55 each week, which will draw more European travellers to Guangzhou as their transfer point to Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia.”

The airline will begin operating into Cairns three times per week from December 18 to February 28, via Brisbane, which will increase from four flights per week to daily services during the same period.

During the visit, Tourism Australia Managing Director Andrew McEvoy and Mr Tan signed a new marketing agreement worth more than A$9 million to jointly promote Australia in China.

“China Southern is now the leading carrier on the China-Australia route, carrying 22 per cent of all Chinese tourists into Australia during 2011. In just over two years, the airline has nearly quadrupled capacity to Australia, opening up direct access between China and Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth and soon to be Cairns,” Mr McEvoy said.

“With Chinese visitors to Cairns up nearly 40 per cent last year, the appeal is clearly there and, now, with this significant injection of air capacity, so is the improvement in air access we need from Australia’s fastest growing and most valuable overseas market.”

Last week, China Southern officially opened its first regional headquarters for Australia and New Zealand in Sydney and recently signed on as major sponsor of the Sydney Festival for the next three years.