China Southern Airlines announced on 19 December that its Adelaide–Guangzhou service, previously limited to the southern hemisphere summer, will become a permanent, year-round route from April 2026. A fourth weekly frequency will be added during Australia’s shoulder peak (6 April-5 May), operated by a 287-seat Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner.
The decision comes as South Australia records a 31 percent jump in Chinese visitor spending to A$305 million (US$200 million) in the year to September 2025. Tourism Minister Zoe Bettison called China the state’s “number-one international market once again,” noting that seat capacity from Chinese carriers is still only 60 percent of 2019 levels. Making the service permanent gives wholesalers confidence to list Adelaide in package tours that bundle wine-region excursions with stopovers in Guangzhou and beyond.
![China Southern makes Adelaide–Guangzhou flight year-round amid rebound in Chinese travel]()
Whether you’re a leisure traveller eyeing those wine-region packages or an engineer shuttling between mine sites, having the right paperwork is as important as booking the flight itself. VisaHQ can streamline the Chinese visa process for Australians with step-by-step online applications, expert document checks and real-time tracking—learn more at https://www.visahq.com/china/.
For exporters, the move is equally significant. South Australia ships A$660 million in chilled seafood, wine and pharmaceuticals to China each year, much of it by air freight. The extra flight adds roughly 50 tonnes of weekly belly-hold capacity, cutting transit times by up to 48 hours compared with trucking perishables to eastern seaboard airports.
Corporate mobility managers will welcome the schedule stability. Engineers servicing mining equipment in outback sites can now route through Guangzhou without seasonal detours via Sydney or Melbourne, while Chinese investors gain easier access to Adelaide’s fast-growing renewable-energy sector. Fares are expected to remain competitive: China Southern’s SkyTeam partner Virgin Australia is likely to code-share on the route, and analysts expect Qantas to respond with promotional sales via its Hong Kong hub.
The decision comes as South Australia records a 31 percent jump in Chinese visitor spending to A$305 million (US$200 million) in the year to September 2025. Tourism Minister Zoe Bettison called China the state’s “number-one international market once again,” noting that seat capacity from Chinese carriers is still only 60 percent of 2019 levels. Making the service permanent gives wholesalers confidence to list Adelaide in package tours that bundle wine-region excursions with stopovers in Guangzhou and beyond.
Whether you’re a leisure traveller eyeing those wine-region packages or an engineer shuttling between mine sites, having the right paperwork is as important as booking the flight itself. VisaHQ can streamline the Chinese visa process for Australians with step-by-step online applications, expert document checks and real-time tracking—learn more at https://www.visahq.com/china/.
For exporters, the move is equally significant. South Australia ships A$660 million in chilled seafood, wine and pharmaceuticals to China each year, much of it by air freight. The extra flight adds roughly 50 tonnes of weekly belly-hold capacity, cutting transit times by up to 48 hours compared with trucking perishables to eastern seaboard airports.
Corporate mobility managers will welcome the schedule stability. Engineers servicing mining equipment in outback sites can now route through Guangzhou without seasonal detours via Sydney or Melbourne, while Chinese investors gain easier access to Adelaide’s fast-growing renewable-energy sector. Fares are expected to remain competitive: China Southern’s SkyTeam partner Virgin Australia is likely to code-share on the route, and analysts expect Qantas to respond with promotional sales via its Hong Kong hub.
