Australia is expected to welcome a record number of Chinese tourists this summer amid a surge in new air routes between the two countries, adding to what is already set to be a busy – and potentially chaotic – holiday period.
On Tuesday, Juneyao Airlines became the eighth carrier based in mainland China to run flights to Australia, with the launch of its Sydney-Shanghai route, before its Melbourne-Shanghai service starts on Friday.
The new routes mean that, by January, the number of airline seats in the Australia-China market will reach 104% of the previous peak of capacity set pre-pandemic, according to analysis from Flight Centre travel group.
Juneyao’s launch caps off what has been a flooding of new capacity in recent months, as…
