Air China continues to develop its long-haul network with the addition of two significant new services launched during the last week.

between Beijing (PEK) and Auckland (AKL) in New Zealand, a route not served non-stop by any other airline. The service is operated as a codeshare with fellow Star Alliance member Air New Zealand, who used to serve the market between July 2008 and June 2012 using its 777-200s. Nick Judd, GM Greater China, Air New Zealand said: “New Zealand is an increasingly popular destination for Chinese travellers. This new partnership represents a great opportunity for us to share our nation’s beauty with even more Chinese visitors and we look forward to welcoming them.” A couple of days later, on 12 December, Air China launched a four times weekly service on the 8,246-kilometre route from Chengdu (CTU) to Paris CDG (CDG).

Air China already serves Paris from Beijing (11 times weekly) and Shanghai (daily). Chengdu is the host city for next year’s World Routes event at which anna.aero will once again be present, producing on-site our legendary daily magazine for all delegates. This winter Air China will serve 67 destinations non-stop from Chengdu, of which 57 are in China. Apart from Paris, other international destinations served non-stop include Frankfurt, Seoul, Singapore and Tokyo.
aenna