China Eastern doubles down on Auckland – Buenos Aires flights

By Andrew Curran.

China Eastern Airlines plans to increase the frequency of its Auckland (AKL) – Buenos Aires (EZE) fifth freedom service from twice-weekly to four-times weekly from early December.

Recent schedule filings, reported by AeroRoutes, indicate the increase will take effect from December 4, 2026.

Argentinian route proves a hit

China Eastern first launched the trans-Pacific service in December 2025. It allowed the airline to boast that it was operating the longest direct commercial airline in the world: Shanghai (PVG) – Buenos Aires, although, as in this case, “direct” doesn’t always mean nonstop.

Nonetheless, the service has proved successful, enjoying strong passenger and cargo demand. New Zealand's cargo exports to Argentina have more than doubled since the flights commenced. The number of Kiwis travelling to Argentina has risen by 22% since the service started, while Argentinian visitor arrivals into Auckland are up 35%.

There are also thousands of Chinese nationals now transiting through Auckland Airport as they fly between China and Argentina, many of which, may be encouraged to break the trip and stopover.

"This service has quickly become an important link between China, New Zealand and South America," said Auckland Airport Chief Customer Officer Scott Tasker.

"Following changes last November to the visa settings made by the New Zealand Government, Auckland has seen a 20% year-on-year increase in visitor arrivals from China for the period November 2025 to March 2026."

Changes to China Eastern's other Auckland service

Schedule filings show the current B777-300ER-operated MU745 departures to Argentina from Auckland every Monday and Thursday will be supplemented by Wednesday and Saturday departures, effective December 5, 2026. The returning MU746 services, which currently depart Buenos Aires on Tuesdays and Fridays, will see additional Sunday and Thursday departures.

MU745 originates in Shanghai, flying to Auckland before continuing to Buenos Aires. MU746 terminates in Shanghai, operating the same routing in reverse.

Meanwhile, China Eastern is planning aircraft changes on its other Auckland service, the daily Shanghai Pudong – Auckland MU779/780 flights. These services are normally operated by a B777-300ER. However, between October 25 and December 30, 2026, four of the seven weekly return services will be operated by the smaller A330-300. The B777-300ER will continue to operate the Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday departures in both directions.

In total, China Eastern will operate 11 weekly return services between Shanghai and Auckland during the upcoming southern summer.

Four mainland Chinese operators flying into Auckland

China Eastern is one of several mainland Chinese carriers serving New Zealand's largest airport. Air China currently operates five weekly B787-9 services between Auckland and Beijing Capital (PEK). China Southern Airlines flies nine times per week between Auckland and Guangzhou (CAN) using a mix of A350-900s and B787-9s. During the peak summer season, China Southern will increase that to up to 18 weekly services, operated exclusively by B787-9s.

Hainan Airlines currently operates twice-weekly B787-9 services between Auckland and Shenzhen (SZX), as well as three weekly flights between Auckland and Haikou (HAK), also using the B787-9. These services are supplemented by Air New Zealand's five weekly return flights between Auckland and Shanghai Pudong.

Statistics New Zealand data, current to March 31, 2026, reveals that Chinese nationals are now the second-largest source of international visitor arrivals after Australians. In the 12 months to March 31, 2026, Chinese visitor arrivals totalled 297,000, an increase of 48,000 compared with the previous 12-month period. While well behind the more than 1.5 million Aussies who visited New Zealand during the same period, Chinese visitors comfortably outnumbered the third-largest group of international arrivals, the Brits.

Photo: Auckland Airport.

Contact the writer: andrew@aerosouthpacific.com