Qantas has confirmed that it will stop flying from Sydney to Beijing in March 2020, choosing instead to service the route indirectly through its partner airlines.
Qantas said the route, which operates five times a week on board an Airbus A330, was no longer “commercially viable due to excess market capacity and weak demand for Business Class on flights between the two cities”.
“Since Qantas reintroduced the direct Beijing-Sydney services in 2017, overall competitor capacity between Beijing and Australia has increased by around 20% and is expected to grow even further in 2020,” Qantas explained.
Qantas tried to increase the route performance back in October 2018 when it reduced its frequency from daily to five per week.
Note that Qantas’ daily flights between Sydney and Shanghai continue to perform well and there are no changes to this schedule.
Qantas will redeploy the aircraft used on the Beijing route to existing destinations in Asia.
Through Qantas’ partnership with China Eastern, Qantas customers can fly on China Eastern flights from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane to Shanghai and from Sydney to Beijing (via Nanjing and Hangzhou), Kunming and Wuhan.
Beyond Shanghai, Qantas customers have access to 19 China Eastern codeshare destinations within Greater China.
Customers can also connect to Beijing and other destinations in China out of Hong Kong with Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon.
Jetstar’s airlines based in Asia also operate to nine destinations in China.
Customers booked to travel on the route beyond March 2020 will be contacted directly and re-accommodated on alternative services or offered a refund/fare credit.