Xiamen Airlines is the latest mainland Chinese airline to target Australia with the carrier set to launch a new non-stop service from Hangzhou to Melbourne this December.
The service’s inaugural flight is set to take off on December 16 and will operate two times per week – Wednesday and Saturday from Hangzhou, and Thursday and Sunday from Melbourne.
Travellers will be flying on Xiamen Airlines’ B787-8 Dreamliner, the first of which it received in 2015. (For a more in-depth look at the carrier, read our article “Xiamen Airlines: What you need to know”.)
The airline configures these in three classes, with four first class, 18 business class and 215 economy class seats. Business class seats have a pitch of 74 inches, while economy offers 32 inches.
This route will be the 11th connecting Melbourne Airport with mainland China. According to the airport’s chief of aviation, Simon Gandy, “China is currently our largest inbound tourism market for Victoria with 570,000 annual visitors. With tourism between China and Melbourne booming, this new non-stop service to Hangzhou will continue to enhance choice for Victorian travellers.”
For Xiamen Airlines, the Melbourne service will join its existing operations into Australia, which began with Sydney in 2015 and Melbourne last year.
Along with being a prominent tourist city for its popular natural scenery and lakes, Hangzhou is also business headquarters for a number of major companies including e-commerce giant, Alibaba, which also opened its doors in Melbourne in February. Hangzhou is located about 180 kilometres southwest of Shanghai.
