China Southern Airlines has rolled out three major international initiatives within a week, strengthening its European and Australian networks and expanding long-haul connectivity through its Guangzhou hub. On December 2, the airline launched a direct Guangzhou–Madrid service, the first route linking a southern Chinese city with the Iberian Peninsula. The service is operated by Boeing 787 aircraft with three weekly flights on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. The outbound flight CZ377 departs from Guangzhou at 10:50 (all times local) and arrives in Madrid at 18:30, with a flight time of around 14 hours. The return flight CZ378 leaves Madrid at 20:30 and lands in Guangzhou at 16:40 the following day, with a flight time of about 13 hours.

The launch of the new route was followed on December 3 by the signing of a codeshare agreement between China Southern and Iberia in Madrid. The deal integrates their Guangzhou and Madrid hubs, allowing China Southern passengers to connect onward to Iberia’s network across Spain, Europe and key destinations in Central and South America. Likewise, Iberia passengers arriving in Guangzhou can transfer seamlessly onto China Southern’s domestic and regional services.

As part of the airlines' broader international network expansion, China Southern also inaugurated its direct Guangzhou-Darwin route on the same day, creating its shortest link to Australia with a flight time of about six hours. The service is operated by Boeing 737 aircraft with three weekly flights in each direction. Outbound flights CZ8361 depart from Guangzhou at 22:25 (all times local) on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays, arriving in Darwin at 06:20 the following day. The return service, CZ8362, departs from Darwin at 07:30 on Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, landing in Guangzhou at 12:25. Since the beginning of 2025, China Southern Airlines has launched a series of new international routes, including services to Surabaya in Indonesia, Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, Almaty in Kazakhstan, and others, expanding its network to cover 46 countries and regions worldwide.

Photo: China Southern Airlines