Before Virgin Australia could get its first flights to Beijing off the ground, Qantas has pounced on the competition with plans to resume Sydney-Beijing services after a seven-year break.
The carrier announced today it’s flying back on the Sydney-Beijing route for the first time since 2009, with direct daily flights taking off on 25 January 2017.
This comes less than four months after Virgin Australia confirmed plans to launch flights to Beijing as well as Hong Kong in the coming years.
As an extension to the airline’s joint venture partnership with China Eastern (which already includes flights on the Sydney-Hangzhou, Sydney-Kunming and Brisbane-Shanghai route), Qantas’ Airbus A330-200 aircraft will fly on QF107 from Sydney at 1.50pm and arrive in Beijing at 10.40pm. The return service will then depart as QF108 at 12.15am on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday to arrive in Sydney at 2.55pm. On Thursday and Sunday the return service will depart at 12.20am to touch down in Sydney at 2.55pm.
Services have been timed to connect with Qantas’ extensive domestic and trans-Tasman network. Fares will be on sale in the coming days.
According to the airline, the return to Beijing is in line with plans to tap into the “exceptional growth” of Australia-China travel, by giving travellers 3,300 seats per week between the two destinations.
“Australia is now at the top of the wish list for Chinese travellers thinking about where they want to go next.”
Alan Joyce, Qantas Chief Executive
“There are 21 million people in Beijing alone and from the start of next year they will be just one Qantas flight away. The potential is tremendous.”
Joyce said the carrier will also ramp up the work it’s doing with state tourism bodies and Tourism Australia to promote Australia as a tourist destination in China.
“Our pitch is that if you want to experience the best of Australia, your trip should start with the national carrier,” he added.
The new Sydney-Beijing route represents an 18 percent increase in Qantas’ total capacity into Greater China and a seven percent increase in its total capacity into Asia.
This growth is part of the Qantas Group’s broader focus on Asia, with around 50 percent of Qantas’ and Jetstar’s international capacity now dedicated to the region, compared with 30 percent 10 years ago.
Over the past 12 months, Qantas has added flights to Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, the Philippines and Indonesia to meet growing demand in the region.
