BY JAMES WILKINSON

The first China Southern Airlines Airbus A380 has rolled out of the paint shop in Hamburg, Germany and the carrier’s local head hopes it will soon head down under.

China Southern’s first A380

“Growth on our route is so strong we would love to be getting our first A380 onto the Guangzhou-Sydney run,” said China Southern’s Australia Region General Manager Henry He. “But North America and Europe also have their hand up, so we will see what happens.”

China Southern operates twice daily to Sydney, daily to Melbourne, three times per week to Brisbane and Auckland, and the first A380 is one of five the Guangzhou-based carrier has on order.

He also said China Southern was delighted to be now codesharing with SkyTeam partner carrier KLM Royal Dutch Airlines for easy access to and from Australia to Amsterdam via Guangzhou.