Melburnians looking to fly to China will soon have a new option to fly to Hangzhou, China.
Capital Airlines has announced the new route will commence in June. The return trip will operate three times per week, and be serviced by an Airbus A330.
The airline is a low-cost Chinese carrier, and has been flying long-haul routes since 2015.
It marks the eighth location in China to be serviced directly from Melbourne Airport. Capital Airlines is already flying a direct route from Melbourne Airport to
Qingdao. This flight is also serviced by an Airbus A330, and first launched back in 2016. Direct flights to Sydney were added the following year.
“Hangzhou is home to around 11 million people, which is twice the size of Melbourne and is known as the tea capital of China,” Melbourne Airport CEO Lorie Argus said.
Chinese passenger numbers continue to lag at Melbourne Airport, currently sitting around 62% of pre-pandemic levels. This is despite the airport setting record international passenger numbers in February and then again in March this year.
The news comes as Melbourne Airport was named the Best Airport in Australia and the Pacific at the Skytrax World Airport Awards in Frankfurt last week.
The airport also revealed it’s kicking off new upgrade works to the Qantas domestic security screening area. The changes are long-overdue, and set to improve the speed and efficiency of security screening.