Air China is the latest airline to expand Melbourne’s direct reach to the world, with plans to launch non-stop services from the Australian city to Shenzhen.
The announcement secures Melbourne’s title as the new ‘it’ city for international carriers as Air China’s services join a line up of recently confirmed direct outbound services for Melbourne including Air Canada’s seasonal flights to Vancouver and Virgin Australia reinstated flights to L.A., as well as Sri Lankan Airlines’ proposed services to Sri Lanka.
This is Melbourne right now…
Commencing 20 June 2017, the Melbourne-Shenzhen flights will be the first non-stop connection from Melbourne to China’s fourth biggest city, which has been labelled as the economic centre in China and was recently named the second most competitive city around the world.
Flights will operate three times weekly on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays under the numbers CA767/768 and will be operated by an Airbus A330-200 aircraft. This will give travellers the choice of booking one of 30 lie-flat bed Business Class seats or 207 Economy Class seats with a seat pitch of 32-inches.
New flights compliment Air China’s existing three-times weekly Melbourne-Beijing services and four times-weekly Melbourne-Shanghai services as well as the carrier’s wider Australian network including last year’s Sydney-Chengdu addition.
Tourists taking advantage of the new route will be able to tick off a number of Shenzhen’s ‘must do’ tourist activities such as walking around Splendid China Park, taking in local art at the Dafen Oil Painting Village and exploring the city’s history at China Folk Culture Village.