Australia is about to get its first year-round, direct link with China’s largest and newest major airport. Commencing 30 March 2026, China Eastern Airlines – one of the world’s largest carriers – will launch a new service between Sydney Airport and Beijing Daxing Airport.
Whilst direct, the new service, however, won’t fly nonstop, with a short layover in the Chinese city of Wuhan required both ways. But the direct route will allow passengers to fly on the same aircraft, with the same flight number and boarding pass for the entire trip. It also means no connecting flights and that bags will be checked all the way through to Beijing Daxing.
Operating three times per week, flight MU2022 will depart Sydney on Monday, Thursday and Saturday utilising China Eastern’s widebody A330-200 aircraft.
In Australia, the Shanghai-based carrier also flies to Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Cairns. It will commence a new service to Adelaide in June this year.
While this is the first year-round service between Australia and Beijing Daxing, it’s not the first time Sydney has been connected with the hub, home to the world’s largest single-building airport terminal, measuring some 700,000 sqm. In December 2024, rival Chinese carrier China Southern Airlines launched a seasonal Melbourne Airport-Beijing Daxing service, operating three times per week for 10 weeks on the route.
China Eastern’s new service comes on the back of growing demand for travel to China. According to the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) travel data for December 2025, the Asian nation was the sixth most-visited country for outbound Aussies taking short-term trips. But its growth was even more impressive, recording the largest year-over-year increase with 21 per cent. The rise in visitation was likely aided by the expansion of China’s visa-free entry for Australians (until 31 December 2026) as well as a large VFR (visiting friends and relatives) market out of Australia.
Sydney Airport, meanwhile, reported its busiest international year on record in 2025, capped by the busiest international quarter the airport has ever seen. According to the hub, over 4.62 million overseas passengers moved through the airport between October and December alone, pushing total international traffic for the year to 17.17 million.
KARRYON UNPACKS: China demand is rebounding fast, and capacity is following. For travel advisors, a same-plane Sydney–Beijing option simplifies selling China again, while year-round services signal longer-term confidence in the market’s recovery. It also opens fresh trade and VFR opportunities.
