Chinese superjumbo bound for Australia

• Flight test: China Southern business class

Australian travellers are more spoilt for choice than ever with the news that another airline, China Southern, is to introduce A380 flights direct to Sydney.

The airline on Saturday announced the luxury superjumbos will be used on flights between Sydney and Guangzhou from October 27.

It joins other airlines including Qantas, Emirates and Singapore Airlines which are already flying the world's biggest passenger jet to Australia.

Air capacity in and out of Australia has increased steadily over the past three years. Qantas has just stepped up its offering with a partnership with Emirates, plus we have seen the emergence of other airlines such as China Eastern and Sichuan out of Asia, Etihad and Qatar out of the Middle East, and low-cost carriers such as Scoot and Air Asia.

Tourism Australia, which is investing $15.7 million in marketing campaigns with 20 airlines this year, said its goal of increasing flights in and out of Australia by up to 50 per cent from 2010 to 2020 was ahead of target. It said aviation on Australian routes grew about 5 per cent last year and was outperforming global growth.

China Southern, which has a chequered report card from passengers about its on-board quality, will also introduce the latest A330-generation aircraft on flights out of Sydney and Melbourne.

The planes, already flying out of Perth and Brisbane, include flatbeds in business class and personal TVs in economy.

"These are state of the art planes," said China Southern executive Chen Gang, who announced the airline's improved offering at the annual Australian Tourism Exchange in Sydney on Saturday.