Heathrow Airport has confirmed that China Southern Airlines will be operating a second daily departure between the UK hub and the Chinese port of Guangzhou with effect from 1 June this year.
It said that the airline’s twice-daily service, the only direct connection between the UK and the southern Chinese city, is strategically important for “a global, outward-looking Britain”.
Using a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, the new service will lower transfer times to China Southern Airlines’ network of over 120 destinations in China, Japan and Korea, southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand.
Located just 75 miles up the Pearl River bay from Hong Kong, Guangzhou is described as one of China’s most vibrant business markets as well as being its biggest port.
The addition of the new daily service will boost trade capacity to this booming city, by doubling the space for British exports to up to 8760 metric tonnes a year, Heathrow Chief Executive John Holland-Kaye said.
Welcoming the addition of the second service, he highlighted the benefits of increased connectivity to Guangzhou for Heathrow passengers and for British business generally.
“Direct connections to thriving markets like these are essential to keeping our country a global, outward looking, trading nation,” Mr Holland-Kaye concluded.
In 2016, more than 1.1 million passengers used Heathrow to fly to and from Chinese destinations, an increase of 7.3% over the previous year.
