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Chinese airline Juneyao Air has arrived in Australia with its inaugural service to Sydney Airport.
Flight HO1669 touched down from Shanghai at 6:44am Tuesday aboard the 787-9 Dreamliner B-20EC, with four weekly flights planned, increasing to daily over the lunar new year period. Juneyao will also begin flights from Shanghai to Melbourne later this week.
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Sydney is now Australia’s biggest gateway to mainland China by seat capacity, with Juneyao becoming its ninth mainland airline – the largest number in its history – and increasing mainland Chinese seats to 53,000 per week, 101 per cent of 2019 capacity.
“Juneyao Air’s decision to launch the Shanghai-Sydney route with four flights per week is a testament to the strong and growing relationship between Sydney and Shanghai,” said Scott Charlton, CEO of Sydney Airport.
“China is one of Sydney Airport’s most important markets – our third largest – and Shanghai is the leading gateway within that market, so we’re excited about the opportunities this will bring for the airport and our passengers.
“I’d like to thank and acknowledge the significant support of the NSW Government and Destination NSW in helping make this possible. Their collaboration continues to be instrumental in driving tourism and international connectivity for Sydney and the broader region.”
Between January and October this year, 1.3 million passengers travelled between Sydney and China, 300,000 of whom were to or from Shanghai; this compares to 1.8 million in 2019, of which 500,000 were to or from Shanghai.
Jo Haylen, NSW’s Acting Minister for Jobs and Tourism, has welcomed the new services, with the Chinese market having already contributed $3.5 billion in visitor expenditure in the year ending June 2024.
“The new flights from China will be a big win for the NSW visitor economy, supporting approximately 450 jobs and bringing in $80 million in new expenditure each year,” she said.
“The Juneyao Air flights were made possible through the Minns Labor Government’s Aviation Attraction Fund. Bringing more passengers through Sydney Airport is part of our plan to boost jobs and grow our visitor economy across the state.”
The arrival of Juneyao in Sydney and Melbourne follows the commencement of seasonal China Southern services between the two cities and Beijing’s new Daxing International Airport.
Sydney saw 49 per cent of mainland China passengers in the 12 months to June 2024; the airport is currently also served by Air China, Beijing Capital Airlines, China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines, Hainan Airlines, Sichuan Airlines, Tianjin Airlines, and Xiamen Airlines.
