Ask the average Brit to pin Guangzhou on a map and the reality is that 99 out of 100 will fail. The sprawling port city northwest of Hong Kong is as ill-recognised as any of the other cities that cluster around China’s autonomous territory, but the home of the Double Pebble opera house and the iconic Canton TV Tower skyscraper could soon become the most important gateway to the east – and it’s high time we recognised it.
For many years people travelling east would find their journey intersected by stops in Dubai, Singapore or Abu Dhabi. Established airlines monopolised routes to Australia, Taiwan or the Philippines by strangling competitors operating out of other hub airports, and thus the cost of reaching the far flung beaches of Cairns or Malaysian paradise quite literally flew up.
But over the past decade the cost of long-haul air travel has gradually been eroded. For transatlantic flights we are no longer confined to BA or Virgin – you can often cut the cost in half by cutting your journey in half on a Wow Air flight via Reykjavík. Reaching Africa via Istanbul and much of Europe via low-cost hubs in Oslo, Frankfurt and Budapest has become the norm, and so it is for the Far East and Asia.
Unbeknown to some, China Southern Airlines is the world’s fourth-largest airline and the largest airline in Asia, flying to over 200 destinations in over 40 countries and regions across the world. A 4-star airline, the airline uses Guangzhou as a hub, taking advantage of its idyllic location acting as the half way house between Europe, Asia and Australasia.
The airline flies twice daily from London Heathrow Terminal 4, providing a cost-effective alternative on hundreds of routes. To explore an extensive list of locations made accessible via Guangzhou, have a scroll through the list below:
London to…. (via Guangzhou)
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