China Southern Airlines Sponsor Sydney Festival

China Southern Airlines

China Southern Airlines has announced that it will sponsor the Sydney Festival for the next three years.

Premier Barry O’Farrell witnessed the signing of a partnership between the President and Chief Executive Officer of China Southern Airlines, Mr Tan Wan’geng, and Sydney Festival Executive Director Christopher Tooher , formalising the company’s three-year sponsorship of the event.

The Premier participated in the signing ceremony during a recent week-long trade mission to China where he toured the airline’s Guangzhou facilities.

The three-year partnership brings together one of Australia’s most exciting cultural events and China’s largest airline, giving Sydney and NSW exposure in the Chinese market and aims to help build greater cultural and tourism links between China and NSW.

The sponsorship also supports Sydney Festival’s focus on further developing its reputation within Asia-Pacific as an exciting reason to visit Sydney – the nation’s cultural and entertainment capital. 

China Southern Airlines

The 2012 Sydney Festival attracted more than 580,000 attendances to 399 performances of 122 events, including 11 world premieres – contributing an estimated $56.8 million to the NSW economy.

Premier O’Farrell also congratulated China Southern Airlines on its choice of Sydney for its Australasian headquarters, creating 25 new jobs over the next year. The airline also recently employed 28 Australian cabin crew to work on flights between Guangzhou and Sydney.