Qantas will stop its direct flights to mainland China following a lack of demand, as the Chinese tourists who previously shored up Australia’s travel industry continue to stay away.
The airline confirmed on Tuesday it will suspend all flights from Sydney to Shanghai – the only route to Australia’s biggest trade partner relaunched after the COVID-19 pandemic grounded global aviation – at the end of July, citing a lack of demand between Australia and China.
Qantas will end direct flights to Shanghai.Credit: iStock
The number of passengers on flights between China and Australia remains down by about 30 per cent, despite overall flight capacity still tracking 20 per cent lower than it was before the pandemic.
The boss of Qantas international, Cam Wallace, said the airline’s Airbus A330s were often flying half full on that route.
“We’re always looking to ensure that we have the right aircraft, on the right routes and at the right time of year to best meet the needs of our customers,” Wallace said.
“We’ll continue to maintain a presence in China through our partners and our existing flights to Hong Kong and look to return to Shanghai in the future.”
The last direct flight from Sydney to Shanghai will take off on July 28 and will be replaced by a new direct service between Brisbane and Manila, which will take off four times each week. Those with flights booked between Sydney and Shanghai after July 28 will be entitled to a full refund.
The airline is also planning to increase the number of flights between Sydney and Brisbane to Singapore and Sydney to Bengaluru in India over peak holiday periods.
Since its borders reopened, the Chinese government has incentivised citizens to inject money into the domestic economy by travelling within China through policy initiatives such as launching duty-free shopping on the tourist island of Hainan.
Meanwhile, the lack of Chinese tourists has caused havoc for Australia’s tourism and hospitality industries, which were banking on a stronger bounceback.
The country’s casinos and other entertainment precincts have struggled since their doors reopened without the steady drum of Chinese tourists bumping up their bottom line.
Australian Bureau of Statistics data showed the number of Chinese visitors in March was 58,240m – less than half the 124,370 who travelled over the same month in 2019.
The lack of Chinese tourists is expected to drain up to $130 billion from the international tourism industry this year, with outbound airline capacity still about 30 per cent lower than it was before COVID-19.
Chinese tourists spend more than any other nation in the world. In 2019, Chinese travellers made 170 million international trips according to data from the China Outbound Tourism Research Institute.
Chinese travellers were Australia’s top international visitors until the pandemic.Credit: Louise Kennerley
Across those trips they spent $248 billion and made up almost 15 per cent of the world’s foreign travel spending, as revealed by World Travel and Tourism Council data. But despite significantly less airline capacity between China and the rest of the world, analysts still expect it to regain its title as the biggest source of international tourism.
The World Travel and Tourism Council expects China’s outbound travel spending to increase to more than 20 per cent above pre-COVID-19 levels by 2025 and double by 2033.
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