BEIJING, Oct. 29, 2009 (Xinhua News Agency) -- China Southern Airlines (NYSE:ZNH) (ZNH.NYSE; 01055.HK; 600029.SH) will endeavor to explore the international aviation market upon the severe competition it faces from the domestic high-speed railways.

Si Xianmin, general manager with China Southern, noted on the 2009 Asia Aviation Outlook Summit held on Wednesday that facing strong challenges from the domestic high-speed railways, Chinese airline companies will have to put more transportation capacity on international flight routes, which have comparative advantages in comparison with domestic routes.

Si pointed out that by the year of 2010, when a high-speed railway network is built up that covers almost all the central cities in China, over 80 percent of China's domestic civil aviation market will undergo impact.

He said that China Southern has the most dense domestic fight routes among the three Chinese airline giants, and the flight routes are mainly distributed in the central southern and northeastern China, where undertake heaviest impact from high-speed railways.