Qantas resumes flights to Beijing

Qantas has announced it will resume flights between Sydney and Beijing at the beginning of next year.

The return comes after Virgin Australia announced plans to launch flights to Beijing and Shanghai next June.

Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said the flights to China’s capital would help the airline take advantage of surging demand for travel between the two countries.

"We're seeing strong loads on our existing Shanghai and Hong Kong services, and on this new Beijing route we'll have the advantage of China Eastern marketing the Qantas flight as part of their own network," he said.

"There are 21 million people in Beijing alone. The potential is tremendous."

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It’s been seven years since it axed the Sydney-Beijing flights but China is Australia’s second-biggest source of visitors after New Zealand.

It will also result in an 18 per cent increase in Qantas' capacity to greater China, which includes Hong Kong.

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