Image: Brisbane Airport
Sydney Airport has announced a boost in flights with China and Middle East in time for the arrival of the peak summer season.
Etihad Airways says it will add three more flights a week between Sydney and the Middle East as of July 2025.
Sydney Airport’s Group Executive, Aviation Growth & Group Strategy Greg Botham says Etihad’s continued investment is “a strong vote of confidence in Sydney and NSW.”
Amer Khan, Etihad’s Regional General Manager, says they are “delighted” to be increasing their services from daily to 10 flights a week.
“The increase provides our customers with additional flexibility and timings making it easier to visit our wonderful home city of Abu Dhabi, or Dubai or connect with our growing global network,” he says.
“For summer 2025 we have announced double-daily flights to key European cities including Rome, Barcelona, Paris and Milan conveniently timed to connect with our services from Asia Pacific.”
CHINA SOUTHERN
Meanwhile, China Southern is to fly four times a week between Sydney and Beijing’s Daxing Airport, starting in December.
The service makes Sydney the first airport in Australia to connect with Daxing, according to the airport.
The new flights will start on December 13 and feature the 286-seat Airbus A330. The extra flights are expected to run for 10 weeks.
Botham says the decision marks another step forward in improving their links with mainland China.
“With the market recovering to nearly 90 per cent in the first half of 2024 and peaking at a remarkable 97 per cent in July, these new flights will not only add much-needed capacity, but also provide a strong impetus for further recovery, reinforcing Sydney’s position as the premier gateway for traffic to and from China,” Botham says.
Beijing Daxing Airport is located in the middle of the Beijing, Tianjin and Xiong’an regions.
Opened in 2019, the airport features a 700,000sqm terminal with plans to make it a world aviation hub by 2050.
