Air China adds Shenzhen to its Melbourne schedule

The airline will operate three flights per week on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday departing Melbourne at 9pm.

The service will be on an Airbus A330-200 which boasts 30 lie-flat bed business class seats, and 207 economy class seats.

Melbourne Airport Chief of Aviation Simon Gandy said he was excited to provide Victorians with new options to travel to Shenzhen.

“We’re pleased by Air China’s decision to introduce its direct service to Shenzhen. The city has the largest manufacturing base in China, second only to Hong Kong, and is often referred to as the Silicon Valley of hardware,” Mr Gandy said.

“We expect the service to be well received by holidaymakers, and our business community alike. Last year on average 85 Victorians travelled to China for business purposes per day, so we know the route will be in high demand. The popularity goes both ways as China is currently our largest international inbound market for visitor arrivals.”

“The new service is also a great outcome for our local economy as each daily international service injects between 100 and 150 million dollars a year into Victoria, so with three flights a week that’s in excess of one million dollars going into our economy each week. We thank Air China for introducing this service which compliments its existing Chinese routes to Beijing and Shanghai.”

Air China General Manager Yuanyuan Huang said “As the national flag carrier of China and the first Chinese airline providing air service between Australia and China, we are committed to the economic development and cultural exchange between our two countries.”

“Our Air China network development strategy is focused on key markets. With the new service from Melbourne to Shenzhen, Air China now has three direct services from Melbourne to three Tier 1 cities in China. We’re proud that Air China currently operates more than 100 international routes covering 39 countries,” Ms Huang said.