[photopress:Air_China_Beijing_Olympics.jpg,full,alignright]Air China and Qantas will increase capacity between China and Australia over the next year.
According to Air China’s GM for Australia and New Zealand, Ms Ling Ma, a stronger than anticipated first quarter this year will see Air China not only expand its Australian operations with increased services, but will also see the airline upgrade carriers, products and facilities on Australia-China routes. (The illustration shows Air China in Olympic colors so it is possible to guess where some of the extra passengers will be coming from.)
Ling Ma said starting October 2007, Air China would introduce three additional weekly A330-200 services from China to Australia, bringing total flights to 10 per week. The additional services are planned on the Beijing – Shanghai – Melbourne route, which now operates as a continuation of the Sydney service.
Air China may also convert some of its Beijing-Shanghai-Sydney flights to direct services between Beijing and Sydney, and has earmarked its new Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners for the route as of mid-2008.
Meanwhile, Qantas has announced it will offer new twice-weekly direct flights between Melbourne and Shanghai from March 2008. This will take Qantas flights to ten return services a week to China, five between Sydney and Shanghai, two between Melbourne and Shanghai, and three between Sydney and Beijing.
Source: TTG Travel Hub