Tianjin Airlines has become the latest Chinese airline to announce plans to expand its Australian network, following in the footsteps of China Eastern Airlines and Sichuan Airlines.

The carrier, which is part of the Hainan Airlines Group, intends to double service to Sydney from late November with the introduction of a new route from Chongqing in southwestern China. Flights between Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport (CGK) and Sydney Airport (SYD) will start on Nov. 27, operating twice a week using Airbus A330-200 aircraft.

Tianjin Airlines already operates flights to Sydney, offering a two roundtrips per week from Tianjin via Zhengzhou. This one-stop route that was initially launched in January 2018 and will continue once the flights from Chongqing commence.

According to OAG Schedules Analyser data, the Chongqing-Sydney market was previously served by Sichuan Airlines until the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020 and is yet to return to the carrier’s network. Tianjin Airlines’ new route will therefore become the sole nonstop connection between the Chinese city and Australia.

The expansion comes as the market between China and Australia continues to return. Capacity between the counties totals some 53,000 two-way weekly seats at the present time, compared with about 28,000 six months ago. The latest capacity figure represents around 72% of 2019 levels.

As previously reported by Aviation Week, China Eastern is set to launch a new route from Jinan to SYD in the coming weeks, while Sichuan Airlines will inaugurate service from Chengdu Tianfu International Airport to SYD at the end of the month.

China Eastern is also returning to Brisbane from Shanghai with three flights per week on Nov. 1 and China Southern Airlines is commencing a 4X-weekly route from Guangzhou on Nov. 18. Both services to Brisbane will rise to daily frequencies from Dec. 11.

Tianjin Airlines’ new international route from Chongqing follows a strong summer season for the airport, which saw passenger traffic rise 5.6% compared with the same period in 2019. Speaking to Aviation Week at Routes World 2023 in Istanbul, CGK Chairman Xiong Dezhi explained that the airport handled 33.6 million passengers in the nine months to Sept. 30, making it the fifth busiest airport in China. The airport expects to reach 45 million passengers for the full calendar year.

“The domestic market to first tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen are growing steadily, the second tier and third tier main cities are developing rapidly,” Dezhi says. “Chongqing's position as a transfer hub in the western plateau is also becoming more and more solid.”

He adds that international traffic is at 22.5% of pre-pandemic levels and has been slower to return because of insufficient ground support capacity of some overseas airports and the geopolitical situation in some countries. “In the future, Chongqing Airport will focus on restoring and densifying strategic intercontinental routes,” Dezhi says. Flights to destinations along China’s Belt and Road initiative, as well as countries within the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, will also be targets.

CKG is currently progressing construction on a $3.5 billion Terminal 3B and a fourth runway, with completion targeted during 2024. The airport hopes the new infrastructure will help to create “an international aviation hub.”

“After the expansion project is fully put into use, Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport will become the first four-terminal and four-runway airport in central and western China, with an annual designed passenger capacity of over 80 million,” Dezhi says.

“This will provide airlines with broader development space, better hardware conditions, and more slots resources for operating international routes and building hubs.”