China Eastern Launching Auckland To Buenos Aires (5th Freedom) Flights

Intro

Over the years, we have seen airlines operate a vast amount of fifth freedom flights, primarily in Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America. While there are some pretty cool ones out there, such as Sao Paulo to Santiago, China Eastern is launching one that might take the cake.

The Details

The China based Skyteam carrier, China Eastern, recently came out with an announcement that as of December 2025, the airline plans to serve the following route 2x weekly.

Shanghai- Auckland- Buenos Aires

It's interesting as the New Zealand Prime Minister was in attendance when this route was launched, and he seems excited that another route will be added from his country due to tourism purposes.

I have yet to review China Eastern yet, but soon...

While nothing official has come out, in terms of flight numbers or departure times, it seems that the airline will be looking to fly a Boeing 777-300ER for this whopping 12,000+ mile adventure.

The Boeing 777-300ER is outfitted with 6 First Class Seats, 52 Business Class seats, and 298 Economy Class seats.

A Quick Thought

This will be an interesting route addition, not only for China Eastern, but for the country of New Zealand. Obviously, you have LATAM, which serves Santiago, and Qantas, which serves Santiago as well from Sydney, but this is a whole new ballgame. I will be curious to see if this route works out financially or not, and I imagine there might be some incentives involved.

On a personal note, this is a very special route for me. Air New Zealand and Aerolineas Argentinas used to fly this route, and I actually took the AR flight when I was about 8 years old on my first "around-the-world ticket". It was a flight I will never forget, and maybe it is time I do it all over again, but this time with China Eastern!

Final Thoughts

China Eastern has just announced one of the most fascinating routes in aviation to date. As of December 2025, the airline will be flying from Shanghai to Auckland, and then operating a fifth freedom route twice weekly to Buenos Aires. Let's see how this works economically.