Chinese carriers limber up for Sydney start

Xiamen Airlines’ is driving home its commitment to delivering on service as it confirmed its new five times weekly services between Sydney and the south-eastern Chinese province of Fujian would be operated entirely by Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners.

The all Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner service will operate on the Sydney-Fuzhou route on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from November 30. A Sydney to Xiamen City service will begin on December 6, flying on Sundays and Thursdays.

Xiamen’s Australian head Chen Yanghua promised the airline would be focused on extending its reputation for high quality to its international routes.

“Xiamen Airlines already has one of the youngest fleets amongst international carriers and, with the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, we’ve dedicated the most modern and comfortable passenger airliner in the world to our Australian routes,” he said.

“While our pricing will be competitive, service remains at the core of everything we do. Xiamen Airlines will be the only Chinese carrier to offer First-Class and Business Class seats on all its flights to China.”

The arrival of Xiamen will add around 36,000 more annual visitors, expected to spend an estimated $134 million in Australia each year.

The confirmation follows Hainan Airlines’ announcement it would begin operations to Sydney from Xi’An on December 24. The city in the northwest of China has a regional population of 8.5 million and is home to the Terracotta Warriors.

“China is NSW’s largest inbound tourism market with 526,000 Chinese visitors last financial year – an increase of 24% on the previous year,” Minister for Trade, Tourism and Major Events Stuart Ayres said.

“These visitors spent almost $2 billion in NSW and we look forward to welcoming even more international visitors to our great city and the NSW regions over the summer.”

Tourism Australia managing director John O’Sullivan underlined the importance of Chinese aviation development in order to realise the full potential of the China market and achieve the industry’s long-term growth targets.

“During the past five years, aviation capacity between China and Australia has more than doubled but with Chinese arrivals close to hitting the ‘magic million milestone’, significant and sustainable increases in aviation access and capacity are still required,” he said.

“What’s really interesting about the inbound tourism story for our country is just how closely recent increases in our international visitor numbers correlate to international aviation capacity. To achieve our Tourism 2020 goals we still require significant and sustainable increases in aviation access and capacity, which is why growing number of Chinese carriers and flights into Sydney is so important and so pleasing.”

Meanwhile, Destination NSW chief executive Sandra Chipchase highlighted the calendar of events the influx of Chinese visitors would be able to enjoy.

“Over the coming months, visitors are in for an impressive calendar of sporting, arts, cultural and lifestyle events and entertainment, including Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour: Turandot, Matilda the Musical, and the NSW Art Gallery’s The Greats,” she said.

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