At an event in Ezeiza, China Eastern Airlines officially inaugurated the new trade route “Shanghai-Auckland-Buenos Aires”the longest in the world.
For the inaugural outbound flight, the MU745the Asian airline chose a plane themed to the National Museum of China (MNC) inaugurated in September.
From now on, the link between the Argentines and the Chinese will change. There will be no more forty-hour trips, nor jet lag.
Why does this launch mark a before and after in tourism and intercontinental trade? Here, everything you need to know.
What places does it connect?
The new air route connects Buenos Aires, Auckland (New Zealand) and Shanghai (China) through the southern corridor (20,000 kilometers that link three continents across the ocean).
This offers not only a shorter distance and duration than Northern routes, but also more favorable time differences during transit.
The flight between Buenos Aires and Shanghai can take 29 hours, almost ten less than usual. Photo: AFPIt is the longest commercial air route in the world. Unlike traditional flights to China, those who choose this route will only board one plane. For the flight to Shanghai they will only make a scale of two hours and 25 minutes (one way) and one of two hours (return) in Auckland and thus reduce your travel time.
Where can I buy tickets?
Tickets can be purchased at China Eastern websitewhich is now available in several languages.
But be careful: not all the flights offered on the site are on the Buenos Aires-Auckland-Shanghai route. These can only be chosen on specific days of the week (see below) and correspond to flights MU746 (Argentina to China) and MU745 (China to Arg). The rest of the flights correspond to other partner airlines and are usually more expensive and extensive.
How much are the tickets?
Currently, the cheapest tickets are around 2100 dollars (round trip and taxes included), but may vary according to the chosen date.
Keep in mind that you cannot choose any date. The flights on the new route take off from Buenos Aires Tuesday or Friday and they return to Argentina monday or thursday. It is key to know this information to choose the round trip dates on the site.
How long does the new flight take?
The new flights from Buenos Aires to Shanghai will take a minimum of 29 hours. Today, it is the fastest way to fly from Argentina to the Asian country.
Until the opening of the new route, the only way to travel to China was through flights with a minimum of two stops, on a journey that took about 40 hours (Clarín’s trip to Beijing It included a technical stop in São Paulo, Brazil, and a 6-hour stopover in Istanbul, Türkiye).
Passengers leave Buenos Aires at 2 in the morning and arrive at Shanghai-Pudong International Airport at 6:00 p.m. the next day. The return plane departs at 2:00 a.m. (Chinese time) from China and lands in South America at 4:55 p.m. the other day.
The Chinese objective
China understands that its airline is committed to “flying further, internationally and towards emerging markets» to build “an air bridge” that connects three continents.
China Eastern Airlines has tickets that are around $2,100.“It is expected to transform regional connectivity patterns throughout the Pacific Rim and become a dynamic practice to deepen international cooperation”, communicates China Eastern.
The airline obtained Fifth Freedom rights, allowing the flight to pick up and drop off passengers and cargo during its stopover in Auckland, «which will provide a superior logistics option for the trade of agricultural products, precision instruments and other specialized goods (…), significantly promoting economic and commercial cooperation between the three countries.»
In the statement, Eastern speaks of a “seasonal appeal” linked to the fact that when the northern hemisphere enters winter in December, the southern hemisphere is in full spring. This allows visitors to «experience different landscapes in the opposite hemisphere and boosting tourism markets in the three regions”.
To facilitate communication, Eastern launched a service line in Spanish, the 0086-21-20695530focused on meeting the main needs of passengers and all types of orientations.
