Australia’s Qantas to drop Sydney-Beijing route amid stiff China competition

The carrier had relaunched the route in 2017 in its third attempt in 35 years to make it viable – even lowering the number of weekly flights

It will maintain daily flights from Sydney to Shanghai, however, where it partners with local hub carrier China Eastern Airlines

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Qantas aircraft are seen on the tarmac at Melbourne International Airport earlier this month. Photo: Reuters

Published: 4:42pm, 12 Nov 2019Updated: 11:01pm, 12 Nov 2019

Qantas Airways said on Tuesday it is axing its underperforming Sydney-Beijing route from March because of stiff competition from Chinese airlines and weak business class demand.

The Australian carrier had relaunched the route in 2017 in its third attempt in 35 years to make it viable and had already lowered the number of weekly flights to five from seven in 2018.

According to the Executive Traveller website: “The Red Roo tried to make the route work, having previously flown it from 1984 to 1987, then 2006-2009 and now 2017-2020.”

Qantas will maintain daily flights from Sydney to Shanghai, where it partners with hub carrier China Eastern Airlines.

The logo of China Eastern Airlines at a check-in counter in Hong Kong Airport. Photo: Reuters

Qantas said since it had reintroduced the direct Sydney-Beijing services in 2017, capacity from Beijing to Australia on Chinese airlines had grown by around 20 per cent and was expected to grow even further in 2020 at a time when broader international capacity to Australia was declining.

“Our flights to Beijing have been underperforming for some time due to weaker demand as well as a big increase in capacity from other airlines,” Qantas chief executive Tino La Spina said in a statement.