00:02Another territory flight route grounded just a year after take-off.
00:06The ABC confirming China Southern Airlines will suspend its direct flights between Guangzhou and Darwin.
00:13Always disappointing when an airline decides to suspend their services.
00:18It's disappointing for the community and certainly from an airport's perspective.
00:22The route joins a list of short-lived international flight paths in and out of Darwin.
00:26Last year, Qantas launched a direct flight from Darwin to Singapore and AirAsia introduced direct services to Bali and Kuala
00:33Lumpur, months before the Guangzhou flight launched.
00:36By June 2026, Qantas had reduced its Darwin to Singapore flights to cover the peak tourism season only, while AirAsia
00:43had pulled out of Darwin entirely.
00:45The news is a kick in the guts for a jurisdiction trying to boost its visibility on the world stage.
00:49Just this year, Tourism Minister Marie-Claire Boothby led a delegation of tourism operators to Guangzhou, where she emphasised the
00:56region's importance to the territory's tourism ambitions.
00:59But it's not just the tourism sector that's been impacted.
01:02I think all businesses across the Northern Territory, in particular those that were really looking to evolve and grow their
01:07businesses, are disappointed with this decision.
01:10The Chamber of Commerce says more factors than just tourism must be considered when securing major flight routes for Darwin,
01:16with freight and exportation also vital for flight security.
01:20We've just got to do better by not operating in silos, whether it's different government agencies, different industry bodies, different
01:26industry sectors, and of course the airport.
01:29We're all in this together. We all want to make it work.
01:31The last flight to Guangzhou will depart on December 3rd.
