After 15 hours and 26 minutes, flight CZ 8031 landed at the Mexico City International Airport (AICM) resuming the operations of China Southern Airlines in Mexico with a connection from Shenzhen (SZX), China.
Initially, it was speculated that the company would resume its operations in Mexico in April 2024, four years after having suspended them due to the COVID-19 health crisis, but later the Chinese ambassador in the country announced that May 11 would mark the return of China Southern Airlines.
The operation connects Bao’an International Airport with Mexico City on Airbus A350-900 aircraft with two weekly flights, covering a distance of 14,147 kilometers, being the eighth longest route in the world and the longest in Mexico. The return flight includes a stopover at Tijuana International Airport (TIJ).
China Southern’s A350s have a capacity of 314 seats, divided into 28 business class, 24 premium economy, and 262 economy class seats; offering a total of 1,256 seats per week.
Until February 2020, China Southern Airlines operated Boeing 787-8 with 264 seats from Guangzhou (CAN) but with a stopover in Vancouver (YVR). According to the Mexican Federal Civil Aviation Agency (AFAC), in 2019, the airline transported 15,238 passengers.
Schedule of China Southern’s Shenzhen-Mexico flights
- Shenzhen – Mexico City flight CZ 8031 SZX 21:00 – 23:00 MEX / Tuesdays and Saturdays.
- Mexico City – Tijuana flight CZ 8032 MEX 01:00 – 04:00 TIJ / Wednesdays and Sundays.
- Tijuana – Shenzhen flight CZ 8032 TIJ 05:30 – 12:20 SZX / Wednesdays and Sundays.
Shenzhen, located an hour and a half from Hong Kong, is the third most important base for China Southern, according to the Cirium platform, with an offering of 52 domestic and 14 international flights (Saudi Arabia, Australia, South Korea, United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan, and Vietnam).
Growth in offerings between Latin America and China
Progressively, Latin America is recovering its offerings to East Asia, a distant market but one that represents one of the largest tourist flows in the region.
So far, Mexico had the majority of flight offerings through All Nippon Airways (Tokyo), Aeromexico (Seoul and Tokyo), and now, China Southern (Shenzhen). At the beginning of May, São Paulo/Guarulhos (GRU) also began to have regular flights from Air China via Madrid.
The next launch, also by Air China, will be Havana (HAV), Cuba, with a stopover in Madrid (MAD) starting May 17, 2024. Recently, Hainan Airlines expressed interest in returning to Mexico and China Eastern Airlines has approval from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) to operate towards Buenos Aires/Ezeiza (EZE), Argentina, with a stopover in Spain.
