Ninth airline turns Sydney airport into Australia’s gateway to China

The new airline will operate four times a week with a seasonal bump to daily flights during the Lunar New Year period. Photo: Sydney Airport.

A new Shanghai-Sydney service that first touched down on Tuesday may have turned the airport into Australia’s major gateway to China.

Juneyao Air’s inaugural service lifted the airport’s seat capacity with China to 101 per cent above pre-pandemic levels and turned it into Australia’s largest gateway.

The airline will operate four direct Sydney-Shanghai flights a week, using a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner and rising to daily during the 2025 Lunar New Year period.

Juneyao is the ninth Chinese carrier to connect with Sydney which is a record, says the airport.

Airport CEO Scott Charlton said Juneyao’s new service “cements our position as Australia’s premier gateway to China”.

“China is one of Sydney Airport’s most important markets – our third largest – and Shanghai is the leading gateway within that market …”

Acting Minister for Jobs and Tourism Jo Haylen said the new flights will support 450 jobs and bring in $80 million annually.

Destination NSW Acting CEO Stephen Mahoney said China is one of Australia’s top-performing international tourism markets, contributing $3.5 billion in visitor expenditure in the year ending June 2024.

Tourism & Transport Forum CEO Margy Osmond described the new service as “a significant win” for the tourism sector and “important” for boosting visitor capacity.

“With this new route improving travel accessibility, and the recent extension of the visa-free threshold for Australians visiting China, we are optimistic about the continued surge of travellers between our two great nations.”

Chengji Yu, President of Juneyao Air, said they were “excited” to expand into Oceania with the Sydney service “marking our first destination in Australia”.

“We are eager to introduce our distinctive brand to this route, featuring our flagship Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. We are confident that the people of Sydney will appreciate this new direct service, connecting them seamlessly to our Shanghai hub and beyond through our extensive China, Asia, and Europe network.”

In 2019, more than 1.8 million passengers travelled between Sydney and China, with almost half a million of these journeys linked directly to Shanghai, the airport said.

In 2024, 1.3 million passengers travelled between Sydney and China from January to October; more than 300,000 of these were to or from Shanghai.