State rivalry hits the runways of Australia

The Victoria Tourism Industry Council (VTIC) celebrates today’s announcement that Juneyao Airlines  will launch three weekly direct flights from Shanghai to Melbourne Airport starting from December this  year. 

VTIC CEO Felicia Mariani said the announcement meant Juneyao Airlines would be the fourth airline to  choose Melbourne Airport for its inaugural flights to Australia – driving international visitation to  Melbourne and Victoria more broadly. 

Emirates, Qatar Airways and Turkish Airlines all chose Melbourne as their launch destination for  Australian services. 

“This is fantastic news for Victoria as we welcome more international visitors flying into Melbourne  Airport, particularly bringing mainland Chinese seat capacity above pre-pandemic levels” she said. 

“These direct international services provide easy access to Melbourne and will drive visitation to our  state, which is vital as we work to achieve the international spend and visitation levels we attracted in  Victoria prior to the pandemic. 

“As additional international carriers continue to choose Melbourne as their entry point into Australia,  this also highlights the crucial importance of progressing the third runway at Melbourne Airport to  ensure we can service growing demand for our destination.” 

Recent forecasts from Tourism Research Australia for Tourism Growth in Victoria to 2028, indicated  that the current 2.4 million international overnight visitors to our state will grow to 4.4 million by 2028.  Spend from those visitors is also projected to grow by 40%, from the current $7.8 billion at end-March  2024, to $13.1 billion by 2028.  

“Progressing the third runway at Melbourne Airport is vital to growing the state’s visitor eocnomy. At  peak periods, our airport is already running at near capacity on the basis of the two runways they  currently operate,”said Ms Mariani.  

“If Melbourne is to realise our full growth potential to 2028, the third runway at Melbourne Airport is  an essential ingredient to our success.”