Passengers at the Beijing Daxing International Airport on December 7, 2025 Photo: Courtesy of Beijing Daxing International Airport

China Southern Airlines announced on Sunday that it will increase Guangzhou-Sydney flights to four daily round trips from December 13, 2025, to February 24, 2026. The move is part of a broader push by Chinese carriers to expand international services during the winter-spring flight season.

Currently, the Guangzhou-Sydney route operated by China Southern maintains a stable schedule of two flights per day during off-peak seasons and three flights per day during peak seasons. 

In 2024, China Southern carried nearly 412,000 passengers on its Guangzhou-Sydney route, ranking first in passenger volume among all China-Australia routes, according to information the carrier sent to the Global Times on Sunday.

China Southern is not alone. Air China said on Friday that it plans to launch new routes between Beijing and Brussels, and between Chengdu and Brussels, while continuing to steadily increase the average daily number of flights on international and regional routes. 

Since the beginning of this year, Air China has launched or resumed 12 international routes, including Beijing-Vladivostok, Beijing-Irkutsk and Beijing-Toronto.

Hainan Airlines plans to launch a direct flight between Haikou and Ho Chi Minh City on December 15. The launch of this route will further promote exchanges and cooperation between China and Vietnam in the fields of the economy, trade, and culture. 

Juneyao Air will launch a direct flight from Shanghai Pudong to Tawau, Malaysia on January 15, 2026. This marks the first time that Shanghai will be directly connected to the world-class diving destination of Semporna, allowing passengers to reach their destination without transferring through Kuala Lumpur or Kota Kinabalu. 

Busy routes are being boosted amid the background of China's continuous optimization of visa-free policies. 

As of the end of last month, China had established mutual visa exemption agreements with 29 countries and unilaterally offered visa-free entry to nationals of 48 countries, spanning Europe, Latin America and the Middle East, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Saturday.

In line with these initiatives, Chinese airports have witnessed a rising number of international travelers.

Beijing Daxing International Airport said on Sunday that as of Saturday, the airport had welcomed more than 50 million inbound and outbound passengers this year, up 8.41 percent year-on-year. This marks the first time since it began operations that the airport's annual passenger throughput surpassed the 50-million mark, setting a new annual passenger flow record. 

The airport witnessed more than 5.49 million international and regional passengers, a year-on-year increase of 25.39 percent, the airport said. 

Beijing Daxing International Airport hosts 70 domestic and foreign airlines operating nearly 190 routes, connecting to about 180 domestic and international destinations across 25 countries in Asia, Europe, Africa, and beyond. 

Since the beginning of this year, the airport has newly launched or resumed international flights to destinations such as Casablanca, Bandar Seri Begawan, Ho Chi Minh City, Dushanbe, and Muscat, the airport said in a release sent to the Global Times on Sunday. 

Global Times