First flight China Southern Guangzhou - Amsterdam

On 8 June, China Southern Airlines - a member of SkyTeam and the largest airline in China celebrated the inauguration of their three times weekly direct service between Amsterdam and Guangzhou. A welcoming water salute upon arrival marked the arrival of the first non-stop flight at Schiphol. Amsterdam was China Southern’s first European destination and its first inter-continental destination when they began services in 1996.

The new service between Guangzhou and Amsterdam will operate 3 times per week, with flight numbers CZ308 / 307 and is complemented by the existing daily passenger service to Beijing and 10 weekly cargo services shared between Guangzhou and Shanghai Passenger flights are jointly operated with KLM, China Southern’s SkyTeam partner.

The inaugural Amsterdam – Guangzhou CZ 308 flight was wished a successful journey with a festive ribbon-cutting ceremony at the departure gate. Executive Vice President & COO of China Southern Airlines, Mr. Zhang Zifang, who himself arrived on the first inbound Guangzhou – Amsterdam flight that same morning, expressed this gratitude for the warm welcome at Schiphol, and expressed his confidence that “the implementation of this new nonstop flight service between Guangzhou and Amsterdam will surely strengthen ties between China and the Netherlands, as well as stimulating the economic and trade co-operations between Southern China and Europe.”

Mr. Jos Nijhuis, President & CEO of Schiphol Group, also welcomed China Southern Airlines’ new flight by complimenting Mr. Zhang stating “With this direct service two major hub airports will be connected to each other directly, and it will strengthen the strong economic relations between both our countries”