China Southern Plans to Operate 320,000 Flights During Summer Travel Peak

(June 22, 2025) As the college entrance examination and the high school entrance examination conclude and schools kick off their summer break, the summer peak season of 2025 for civil aviation is approaching. China Southern Group plans to operate over 320,000 flights (a round-trip is counted as two flights, same below) on more than 970 domestic routes and 260 international and regional routes this season. During peak periods, China Southern Group will manage an average of over 3,000 flights daily, offering travelers a wide range of choices and bringing joyful flying experiences to more passengers.

In terms of domestic routes, China Southern will focus on launching new flights and increasing frequency of existing flights to popular tourist destinations in Xinjiang, Northwest China, Northeast China, and North China. From its hub in Guangzhou, China Southern will introduce and enhance services to destinations such as Xining, Lijiang, Hailar, and Dehong. As the primary base carrier at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport, China Southern plans to operate over 110 domestic routes during the summer travel season, with more than 4,000 flights scheduled each week.

At its Beijing hub, China Southern intends to start new routes and increase frequency for summer destinations, including Changbai Mountain, Xining, Altay, Yining, and Aksu from Beijing Daxing International Airport where it will operate 55 domestic routes and over 2,300 flights weekly.

At its Urumqi hub, China Southern plans to launch new services and increase frequency on several routes to Shenzhen, Guiyang, Harbin, and Shenyang, with over 1,600 flights scheduled each week during peak periods. The airline will also introduce and boost services for round trips between Altay and Guangzhou, Beijing, Wuhan, Changchun, Zhengzhou, and Harbin, reaching up to 64 flights per week. To meet market demand, China Southern will operate wide-body aircraft on popular routes from Urumqi to Guangzhou, Beijing, Shenzhen, Shanghai, and Hangzhou. The number of wide-body aircraft deployed and the seating capacity will reach a five-year high.

To better support the full revitalization of Northeast China, China Southern Airlines plans to open and increase services on nearly 30 routes, including round trips from Harbin to Urumqi and Wuhan, from Changchun to Hangzhou, Yantai, and Nanning, from Changbai Mountain to Beijing and Shanghai, and from Shenyang to Urumqi, Lanzhou, and Nanjing.

To expand the regular destinations for homegrown aircraft, all the five C919 jets received by China Southern Airlines will be deployed during the summer travel season on routes from Guangzhou to Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport, Chengdu Tianfu International Airport, Changsha, Wuhan, Zhengzhou, Taiyuan and so on, making the total number of destinations reaching 13. Additionally, 35 C909 jets will be flying over 60 routes, such as from Guangzhou to Shantou and Yiwu.

Internationally, China Southern Airlines launched a direct flight from Beijing Daxing International Airport to Dushanbe on June 16. A direct route from Guangzhou to Almaty will begin on June 25, followed by a direct flight from Guangzhou to Tashkent starting June 30. Additionally, a new direct service from Harbin to Vladivostok will commence on July 1.

Besides, China Southern Airlines continues to increase flights to Central and Western Asia, Southeast Asia, and Australia, offering travelers more options and convenience for outbound travel during the summer travel peak. From June 1, the Urumqi-Tbilisi route has been upgraded from 4 to 7 round trips per week. From June 11, the Urumqi-Yerevan route has been upgraded from 2 to 3 round trips per week. From June 12, the Guangzhou-Brisbane route has been upgraded from 5 to 7 round trips per week. From July 1, the Urumqi-Baku route will be upgraded from 3 to 5 round trips per week. From July 11, the Guangzhou-Phuket and Guangzhou-Sabah routes will be upgraded from 1 to 2 round trips per day. From July 18, the Guangzhou-Nha Trang route will be upgraded from 1 to 2 round trips per day. From July 24, the Guangzhou-Nairobi route will be upgraded from 2 to 3 round trips per week. During the summer travel peak, the most frequent international and regional route from Guangzhou will be the direct flight to Bangkok, which is expected to have eight round trips daily at the highest.