China Southern Airlines, the country's largest air carrier, is adding more flights and routes.

Starting October 26 and running until March 28, 2009, the airline will have 18 new routes, such as Wuhan to Sanya, Shenzhen to Sanya, Harbin to Taiyuan to Shenzhen and others.

According to a company press release, the number of weekly flights will rise to 7,688, up 12.15 percent from the same period last year.

For the domestic market, new tourism routes will be opened, and more flights will be added from southern Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Shanghai and Beijing.

With the upcoming peak tourism season for the country's Hainan Island during winter and spring, the company will run 10 daily flights from Guangzhou to Haikou and eight from Guangzhou to Sanya. Another 14 new routes will be opened in the Shenzhen and Haikou markets.

There are also changes to international flights. For example, Guangzhou to Sydney and Guangzhou to Melbourne will be changed to non-stop, direct flights this winter and spring.

In addition, one daily flight will now be available from Beijing to Seoul and Manila, from Guangzhou to Dubai and Delhi, and from Shenyang to Singapore.

There will also be one more flight added to routes, such as Guangzhou to Seoul and from Guangzhou to Bangkok.

(Xinhua News Agency October 26, 2008)