China Eastern to launch Shanghai to Buenos Aires service via Auckland 

On June 18, 2025, China Eastern Airlines announced the launch of a new route connecting Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG) to Buenos Aires-Ezeiza International Airport (EZE), with a stopover in Auckland, New Zealand (AKL). 

This new Trans-Pacific service, which will start in December 2025, will operate as an extension of the daily Shanghai-Auckland service, which the Chinese carrier has already been operating for over a decade. 

Although China Eastern currently uses an Airbus A330-200 with 263 seats (17 in business and 246 in economy class) on the Auckland route, the new service to Argentina will see the deployment of a larger Boeing 777-300ER, fitted with 316 seats (six in First, 52 in Business and 258 in Economy). 

Back in 2023, China Eastern had received governmental approval to operate a twice-weekly service to Buenos Aires via Madrid (MAD), but it finally has opted to go to Argentina via a Pacific routing. 

At nearly 19,000 kilometers, the Shanghai to Buenos Aires itinerary will be the longest route in the world with one intermediate stop.  

The Auckland to Buenos Aires leg of the trip will also be the only Trans-Pacific nonstop connection linking Argentina to the greater Asia-Pacific region, as well as one of the few intercontinental services in the southern hemisphere.  

The Cirium SRS Analyzer shows that only two other airlines plan to offer scheduled flights linking South America to New Zealand and Australia by December 2025. Qantas operates a daily service between Sydney (SYD) to Santiago de Chile (SCL) while LATAM offers flights from Santiago to Auckland, Melbourne and Sydney. 

However, in the press release announcing the new China Eastern route, Auckland Airport Chief Executive Carrie Hurihanganui highlighted that the new service will help restore connectivity in this part of the world. Air connectivity between South America and New Zealand still stands at around half of pre-COVID pandemic levels. The post China Eastern to launch Shanghai to Buenos Aires service via Auckland  appeared first on AeroTime.

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