China Southern Airlines inaugurated today its first flight on the Guangzhou-Vancouver-Mexico City route. This is the first route operated by a Chinese airline to Mexico and the first time China Southern Airlines has flown to Latin America.
The inauguration of this new route demonstrates the importance that Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto and Chinese President Xi Jinping give to increasing flights between the two countries.
This new air route will play an important role in strengthening tourism, business and the exchange of people between Mexico and China and is the result of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, which is focused on obtaining concrete results in priority areas of the agenda that was agreed by the leaders in 2013.
China Southern Airlines has a fleet of over 700 cargo and passenger aircraft, making it the largest airline in Asia and the fourth largest in the world. Its operations are based out of the Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport in the province of Guangdong.
In 2016, approximately 124,000 Chinese citizens arrived in Mexico by air, making China Mexico’s second largest tourist market in the Asia-Pacific region.
The flight will operate three days a week: it will depart from Mexico City on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays and leave from Guangzhou on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays.