In the words of the creative wordsmith running Sydney Airport’s Twitter account, “a new tail touched down” at the airport this morning as another Chinese carrier kicked off services to the Harbour City.
While you struggled to get yourself out of bed, Capital Airlines completed the first Qingdao-Sydney service, bringing the number of mainland Chinese airlines operating to and from the gateway up to a record seven.
The other six mainland Chinese airlines currently flying to the gateway are… can you name them all?
There’s Air China, Sichuan, China Eastern, China Southern, Hainan Airlines and Xiamen Airlines.
Pat of the back if you got them all! You’re on your way to becoming a Chinese/Australian aviation genius.
Anyway, the new Capital Airlines service will run four times weekly with JD479 departing Qingdao on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sundays at 3.50pm to arrive in Sydney the next day at 6.55am. JD480 will leave Sydney on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday at 11.00am to arrive in Qingdao at 8.50pm, while the Saturday service will depart Sydney at 9.35am to arrive at 7.05pm.
The airline’s A330-200 aircraft will operate on the new route, giving travellers access to 222 seats, adding an extra 92,000 seats per year between Australia and China.
Sydney Airport Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Kerrie Mather said the new airline would boost business and tourism to our city.
“We’re thrilled that Capital Airlines’ new service is expected to bring an additional 24,000 Chinese visitors annually and generate $100 million in additional visitor expenditure per year for NSW,” she said.
“Sydneysiders can also now directly access a new tourism destination to discover Qingdao’s beautiful beaches, historic architecture, magnificent mountains and of course visit the city’s world famous Tsingtao brewery museum.”
Kerrie Mather, Sydney Airport Managing Director
Capital Airlines Vice President Qu Tao said Australia is an important market for Qingdao’s province, Shandong, and is a favourite among Shandong tourists.
“On the occasion of the ‘China-Australia Tourism Year’, Capital Airlines’ launch of the Qingdao-Sydney route helps establish another passageway in the sky between China and New South Wales, to help facilitate and promote trade development and tourism between the two cities,” he said.
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