UPDATED: Exporters delighted as Taiwan airline adds Christchurch to network

Canterbury exporters and manufacturers have welcomed the arrival of a new international airline to the regional airport.

Christchurch Airport and China Airlines confirmed this week Monday’s NBR ONLINE report that a service from Taipei’s Taoyuan airport to Christchurch via Sydney will commence on December 1.

Christchurch Airport chief executive Malcolm Johns says China Airlines’ membership of the Sky Team alliance will give the South Island its first connection to the third largest international airline network.

Other Sky Team airlines that fly to Sydney include Delta Air Lines, Korean Airlines, China Southern Airlines, China Eastern and Garuda Indonesia. 

“The 20 SkyTeam member airlines offer more than 16,000 daily flights to more than 1050 destinations in 177 countries, so this service opens up multiple new outbound destinations for the people of the South Island,” he says.

“This service also brings another wide body aircraft into Christchurch, so is great news for the air freight industry. A recent report commissioned by CDC [Canterbury Development Corporation] and produced by PwC noted that the South Island is missing out on exporting about 17,000 tonnes of high value air freight exports annually because of the lack of wide body aircraft servicing Christchurch.”

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Taiwan’s national airline is adding Christchurch to its network over three summer months.

Route News reports China Airlines will start flying from Taipei’s Taoyuan Airport to Christchurch via Sydney three days a week on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. Return flights will be on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays.

The service will run from December 1 until February 28 using an Airbus A330-300.

At the same time, China Airlines is boosting its Taoyuan-Sydney flights to four times weekly.

China Airlines, a member of the Skyteam alliance, already flies four weekly services from Taoyuan to Auckland via Brisbane using Boeing 747-400 aircraft and via Sydney three times a week using an Airbus A330-300.

The announcement of extra flights between Taiwan and New Zealand follows last December's signing of a comprehensive freet trade agreement.

Earlier this year, the Guangzhou-based China Southern Airlines made a one-off chartered flight to Christchurch, which says it is the second largest destination for Chinese visitors.