Qantas launches Sydney-Beijing service

Qantas launched (25-Jan-2017) daily Sydney-Beijing service on 25-Jan-2017, operating with 253 seat A330-200 aircraft - see Route Changes Table for more information. Overall, the service adds 3300 seats to the market per week. Beijing is Qantas' third destination in Greater China, joining Shanghai and Hong Kong. Qantas will be working with Tourism Australia, Destination NSW and across its own marketing channels to showcase Australia for a Chinese audience, as well as jointly selling the route with JV partner China Eastern Airlines. Qantas CEO Alan Joyce stated: "It's the perfect time for Qantas to fly to Beijing. The China-Australia Free Trade Agreement is hitting its stride and China is on track to become the number one source of visitors to Australia within the next year or so". The new Beijing service is part of Qantas' growth strategy for China and the broader Asian region, increasing its total capacity on routes to Asia by 7%. [more - original PR]