China Southern Airlines starts Guangzhou-Cebu service, to fly on Guangzhou-Dhaka route from August 2, 2009

China Southern Airlines, based in Guangzhou in the Guangdong province of China, has launched a direct charter flight between Guangzhou in China and Cebu in the Philippines.  The Guangzhou-Cebu service is the first non-stop flight to Cebu from the Guangdong province and from South China.

Prior to this, there have been direct flights to Cebu only from Beijing, Hong Kong and Shanghai.

The Guangzhou-Cebu flight leaves Guangzhou for Cebu twice a week – on Monday and Thursday – and returns on Tuesday and Friday.

A statement from China Southern Airlines said that GZL International Travel Service is the sole ticket agent for the Guangzhou-Cebu charter flight.

The Guangzhou-Cebu flight, according to China Southern Airlines, will help save tourists from Guangdong at least 10 hours as well as about 70% of their travel costs.

China Southern Airlines added that the new air service is expected to bring around 15,000 tourists from Guangdong to Cebu.

Meanwhile, China Southern Airlines has said it will launch flights between Guangzhou in China and Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, on August 2, 2009.

To start with, there will be 3 flights between Dhaka and Guangzhou – China Southern Airlines will fly from Guangzhou to Dhaka on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday; and from Dhaka to Guangzhou on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Initially, the Dhaka-Guangzhou return ticket will cost 38,000 taka (about US $543), including taxes. The ticket price will go up by about US $50 after two months, China Southern Airlines said.

The airline will use a Boeing 737-800 aircraft on the route. The flying time between Dhaka and Guangzhou is about three and a half hours.

The Guangzhou-Dhaka service was initially scheduled to start on July 5, 2009.

China’s official news agency Xinhua quoted a representative of China Southern Airlines in Bangladesh as saying that the entire process to start the Dhaka-Guangzhou service has been finished and that the airline began selling tickets in Bangladesh on July 10, 2009.

China Southern Airlines could not start the Dhaka-Guangzhou service on July 5, 2009, as planned earlier because the civil aviation authorities of Bangladesh could not complete the necessary formalities on time, the airline’s representative in Bangladesh added.