Low Cost Carrier Jetstar to Introduce Direct Service Between Zhengzhou and Paradise

Australian low-cost airline Jetstar will open a new twice-weekly service between Melbourne and Zhengzhou in December, the first direct flight between the Henan provincial capital and Australia, as well as being the tenth between Melbourne and China.

The new connection, which will be served by Boeing 787 aircraft, is expected to bring 35,000 Chinese visitors to Australia per year from the city of more than 10 million people.

Jetstar group CEO Jane Hrdlicka emphasised that the new route would benefit not only Melbourne, but also other parts of the country, explaining that:

“We know that Chinese travellers generally visit two or three cities when they visit Australia, so we expect this will boost tourism to other parts of Australia. China is an incredibly important market for us and will continue to grow.”

“China already accounts for the largest source of tourism in Victoria, and by 2020 it’s predicted that China will overtake New Zealand to be Australia’s largest tourism market,” she added.

Chinese tourists to Victoria made up for 35 percent of the state’s tourism earnings in 2016, spending a total of 2.6 billion AUD (ca. 2.05 USD billion).

Nevertheless, the new route is expected to provide more than commercial advantages. Australia Comfort general manager Jun Yan described the flights as an opportunity that would “build a direct bridge between the two cities,” that would “significantly promote the friendship and cultural exchanges between China and Australia.”

COTRI China Outbound Tourism Research Institute is the world’s leading independent research institute for information, training, quality assessment, research, and consultancy relating to the Chinese outbound tourism market. More information can be found on www.china-outbound.com.

For up-to-date articles, news features and exclusive content about the Chinese outbound market, subscribe to COTRI Weekly at www.paper.li/COTRIWeekly.

Source: Xinhua, Finder

Image: Flickr