Qantas has taken the next step in its strategy to tap into the exceptional growth of the Australia-China travel market, with the launch of daily flights between Sydney and Beijing starting 25 January 2017.

The new service will operate into Beijing Capital International Airport, using an Airbus A330-200 aircraft, with return flights timed to connect with Qantas’ extensive domestic and trans-Tasman network.

Last flying direct in 2009, it marks Qantas’ return to the route, its third destination in Greater China, including its existing daily return services to Shanghai and 28 return services a week to Hong Kong.

The new Beijing-Sydney service is part of the expansion of Qantas’ joint venture partnership with China Eastern which will also see three international codeshare routes between Australia and China being added under their strengthened agreement: Sydney-Hangzhou, Sydney-Kunming and Brisbane-Shanghai. China Eastern will codeshare on Qantas’ new Beijing service.

Qantas Group Chief Executive Alan Joyce said the new route would help the airline take advantage of surging travel demand, adding 3,300 seats a week between Australia and China.

“The tourism industry in Australia is very excited about what the Chinese market will deliver over the next few years, especially given it’s already become our second biggest source of visitors after New Zealand,” Joyce said.

“Australia is now at the top of the wish list for Chinese travellers thinking about where they want to go next.  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 added.

Tourism Australia Managing Director, John O’Sullivan welcomed the decision by Qantas to increase its footprint in Australia’s fastest growing and most valuable tourism market.

O’Sullivan told Travel Weekly “it’s great to see Qantas returning to Beijing, and very exciting to being working together on such a significant route launch in a market we have both prioritised as part of our recently renewed commercial partnership.”

“With China already delivering more than a million annual visitors and growth forecasted to remain strong, I’m sure there will be no shortage of demand for the new service,” O’Sullivan added.

Qantas has seen strong loads on its existing Shanghai and Hong Kong services, and the new Beijing route will take advantage of China Eastern marketing the Qantas flight as part of their own network.

“We’ll be ramping up the work we’re already doing with the state tourism bodies and Tourism Australia on marketing campaigns in China to make sure we make the most of this potential.   Our pitch is that if you want to experience the best of Australia, your trip should start with the national carrier.

“The business travel market is another key focus for this route, particularly off the back of the free trade agreement with China, which is increasing the amount of freight we’re carrying,” Joyce explained.

The new Sydney-Beijing route represents an 18 percent increase in Qantas’ total capacity into Greater China and a seven per cent 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.

Including codeshare services with China Eastern and China Southern, Qantas offers more than 130 return services a week between Australia and China, connecting to a further 256 codeshare services a week on intra-China domestic routes.  Jetstar Group airlines offer 20 return services a week into six Chinese cities from Singapore and Vietnam.