China Eastern Airlines has announced it will resume non-stop services between Shanghai and Brisbane from 29 October. China’s second-largest airline will commence with three flights per week, rising to daily seasonal flights from 8 December 2023 for the peak of the travel season. China Eastern Airlines will deploy wide-body Airbus A330-200 aircraft on the route, carrying 232 passengers.
“This is another sign Queensland’s Chinese tourism market is set to roar back to life. We are delighted to welcome Shanghai back to the BNE destination map. Shanghai is China’s largest city and a commercial hub, making it a key city for business and leisure travel,” according to Gert-Jan de Graaff, Chief Executive Officer of Brisbane Airport Corporation. “With two carriers now set to resume services from mainland China, we’re forecasting China will likely regain its spot as Queensland’s number one source for inbound tourists in 2024. This is big news for the Gold Coast, Brisbane and North Queensland.”
The flights are tipped to generate around $314 million for Queensland’s visitor economy over three years and support 1,270 Queensland jobs. “China Eastern Airlines, a member of Skyteam, is thrilled to return to Brisbane from 29th October 2023, and offer Brisbane travellers nonstop service to Shanghai,” according to China Eastern Airlines Oceania General Manager Jim Young. “We, the Queensland Government, and Brisbane Airport align with a shared value and vision in our commitment to reintroducing this route in 2023. Our non-stop flight to and from Brisbane will further substantiate Shanghai as an exceptional hub for both business and leisure travellers to destinations cross China and beyond on a global scale.”
The deal is the 26th international connection secured by the Attracting Aviation Investment Fund, a joint Queensland Government and airports initiative. Tourism Mininster Stirling Hinchliffe said: “This is more terrific news for the international recovery of Queensland’s world-class tourism industry. We know Chinese travellers are eager to return and rediscover Queensland’s great lifestyle and iconic visitor experiences from the Torres Strait and the Reef to our amazing beaches and the Outback. The message potential visitors are hearing in China from Tourism and Events Queensland’s (TEQ) tourism marketing is Queensland is Good to Go. We’re seeing that reflected in strong Queensland holiday bookings from Guangzhou and now new tourism opportunities for visitors to fly direct from China’s biggest city, Shanghai. Rekindling Chinese travellers’ love of Queensland’s iconic tourism experiences is critical to TEQ’s industry Blueprint for building an $11 billion international visitor economy by the 2032 Games.”
China Eastern’s Brisbane flights will be operated in code-share with Qantas. Services will depart Brisbane every Wednesday / Friday / Sunday at 1110am and depart Shanghai every Tuesday / Thursday and Saturday at 9pm Beijing time until the service switches to daily for peak season from 8 December.
ACCC proposes to deny coordination between Qantas and China Eastern
The ACCC has issued a draft determination proposing to deny authorisation for Qantas Airways Ltd and China Eastern Airlines Corporation Limited and their related entities (including Jetstar) to continue coordinating operations between Australia and mainland China.
Qantas and China Eastern are seeking authorisation for an Extended Joint Coordination Agreement that enables them to coordinate passenger and cargo transport operations between Australia and China until the end of March 2024.
An agreement for coordination between two key competitors may breach competition laws. The ACCC can only authorise these agreements if the public benefits from the coordination outweigh the harm to competition.
“At this stage we are not satisfied that the likely harm to competition from Qantas and China Eastern’s proposed coordination would be outweighed by any potential benefits,” ACCC Commissioner Anna Brakey said.
Currently China Eastern is the only airline flying direct between Sydney and Shanghai with Qantas planning to resume flights in late October.
“We are concerned that the authorisation would provide Qantas and China Eastern with the opportunity and incentive to increase prices, compared to what they would charge absent the alliance, by limiting or delaying the introduction of additional capacity on the Sydney-Shanghai route as passenger demand continues to grow,” Brakey said.
The ACCC considers that demand for air travel between Australia and China is likely to keep growing between now and the end of March 2024, as Chinese tour groups return and following Tourism Australia’s recent campaign in China promoting Australia.
“Any additional services on routes other than Sydney- Shanghai could potentially be a public benefit but we are not satisfied they are likely to eventuate between now and March 2024,” Brakey said. “A key difference between now and the previous authorisations is we have not been provided with sufficient evidence that the coordination would lead to additional services on other routes between Australia and China.”
On 30 March 2023, the ACCC granted interim authorisation to enable Qantas and China Eastern to continue to coordinate their operations while the ACCC assesses their substantive application for re-authorisation. That interim authorisation remains in place and Qantas and China Eastern have been invited to make submissions on a transition to end authorisation.
The ACCC is seeking submissions in response to the draft determination by 6 October 2023, before making its final decision.
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