Travel between China and Australia tipped to rebound rapidly as Chinese airlines ramp up flights

Chinese airlines are ramping up flights to Australia as Covid restrictions ease, boosting the prospects for a rapid rebound in travel between the two nations.

Airports said the market was dynamic with carriers large and small restarting routes dormant during the pandemic years, with more flights likely to be added as demand picks up.

Lengthy quarantine requirements for travellers to China since 2020 saw passenger flights largely stopped between Australian cities and mainland China. Melbourne, for instance, went from about 70 flights a week to just one while routes between Brisbane and China (excluding Hong Kong) ceased.

Tourism Australia said China was Australia’s biggest source of visitors in pre-Covid times, with 1.4 million people, spending $12.4bn a year.

For Sydney airport, three airlines – China Southern, China Eastern and Xiamen Air – maintained one or two weekly passenger flights between Sydney and the mainland during the Covid period. Freight flights continued at the rate of about three a day.

With China now ditching most Covid-linked controls, those three carriers have begun flying as many as three daily flights, a Sydney airport spokesperson said.

“Since the border has reopened with China, these three airlines have confirmed additional flights are coming and a fourth airline, Air China, has announced it will be offering flights to Sydney,” the spokesperson said.

China Southern will ramp up its flights to the southern city of Guangzhou to a daily passage from 30 January, while China Eastern will increase its Sydney-Shanghai flights to three a week from 19 January.

Air China, the national carrier, will restart Sydney flights after a three-year absence from 3 February with an initial offering of three flights a week.

Xiamen Air has doubled its flights between Sydney and the southern port city of Xiamen to two this week, and will double it again by 29 January.

Xiamen Air was the only Chinese carrier to keep flying to Melbourne during the Covid years, maintaining a single weekly flight. Pre-pandemic, the Victorian capital hosted more than 70 weekly direct flights to the mainland, all operated by Chinese carriers.

On Tuesday, Air China began selling seats on direct Melbourne-Beijing flights that it will resume operating three times a week from February, a spokesperson for Melbourne airport said.

China Southern was also selling Melbourne-Guangzhou direct flights from the end of January.

Sichuan Airlines began marketing to its Chinese-reading audience on its WeChat messaging channel on Monday evening a twice-weekly flight between Melbourne and the south-west city of Chengdu from 31 January. Melbourne airport could not immediately confirm the plans.

“Given Victoria’s large Chinese community, we expect the resumption of flights to destinations such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou will prove extremely popular with travellers in both directions,” a Melbourne airport spokesperson said.

Flight Centre said China’s reopening would lead to a “strong rebound” in visitor numbers that would bring wider benefits for travellers.

“[T]he Chinese airlines that were servicing Australia were very price-focused,” a Flight Centre spokesperson said.

“Their return may well lead to sharper pricing than what we are typically seeing of late.”

Inbound travel will probably be dominated by Chinese students and also tourists keen to get out of China after years of rolling lockdowns. Outbound travel will probably see many people seeking to visit friends and relatives, although visa processing delays may see tourism slower to resume, airport officials said.

Brisbane airport previously landed about 14 weekly flights between the Queensland capital and mainland China. There are no firm plans yet to resume flights, an airport spokesperson said, adding 500,000 Chinese visited Queensland in 2019 making China the third-largest market after New Zealand and the US.

China Eastern said its Melbourne-to-Shanghai service would resume from 24 January on every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, rising to four a week from 1 February.

Tourism Australia had retained an “always on” approach even when travel was not possible “to ensure Australia remains top of mind for the return of two-way quarantine-free travel”, a spokesperson said.

Qantas was approached for comment.