en.Wedoany.com Reported - This new route will further expand China Southern Airlines' African network, while also intensifying competition on the Guangzhou-Addis Ababa route. Currently, Ethiopian Airlines already offers direct services on this route. China Southern Airlines currently operates routes from Guangzhou and Changsha to Nairobi, Kenya.

According to OAG flight schedule analysis data, in the summer of 2026, China Southern Airlines will offer approximately 159,000 round-trip seats between China and Africa, a 51.5% increase from about 105,000 seats a year earlier. This growth positions it as the third-largest carrier by capacity in this market.

The launch of the new route comes amid sustained growth in passenger demand between China and Africa, though the majority of travelers still rely on connecting itineraries. Sabre market intelligence data shows that the two-way origin-destination passenger volume generated by the China-Africa market in 2025 is estimated at 2.93 million, a 36% increase from approximately 2.15 million in 2024. However, only about 525,000 passengers (17.9% of the market) opt for direct flights.

In the China-Africa direct flight market, Ethiopian Airlines is the largest operator. In the summer of 2026, it offers approximately 632,000 two-way seats, up 6.2% year-on-year, accounting for about 35% of total capacity in this market. Egypt Air ranks second with about 323,000 seats and a 17.9% share, followed closely by China Southern Airlines with an 8.8% market share. Air China is not far behind with approximately 157,000 seats.

Overall, in the summer of 2026, airlines will offer approximately 1.81 million two-way seats across 22 China-Africa direct airport pairs, a 5% increase from 21 pairs and 1.72 million seats a year earlier, with flight frequency growing by 5.9%. The Guangzhou-Addis Ababa route is already the largest single route in this market by scheduled capacity, with Ethiopian Airlines offering approximately 238,000 two-way seats in the summer of 2026, up 12.4% year-on-year. The Addis Ababa-Beijing and Addis Ababa-Shanghai routes each have about 145,000 seats.

Sabre data shows that in 2025, Guangzhou was also the largest Chinese departure point for travelers to Africa, generating approximately 978,000 two-way passengers, a 34.7% increase year-on-year. Beijing generated about 656,000 passengers, and Shanghai about 529,000.