Qantas will relaunch its daily service from Sydney to Beijing in January as it targets a larger share of the burgeoning Chinese travel market.
The January 25 resumption of the Sydney to Beijing route - which Qantas scrapped in 2009 because of the fallout from the global financial crisis - will boost the carrier's total capacity into China by 18 per cent.
Air China already operates five direct flights from Sydney to Beijing each week in a codeshare agreement with Air New Zealand, while several airlines run services to Beijing via Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore.
Qantas also flies direct to Hong Kong and Shanghai, and more than 50 per cent of the Australian carrier's capacity will be allocated to Asia once the Beijing route commences.
That's up from 30 per cent a decade ago, according to chief executive Alan Joyce.
China is Australia's second biggest source of visitors behind New Zealand, and Mr Joyce expects it take the top spot within a few years.
"There are 21 million people in Beijing alone ... the potential is tremendous," Mr Joyce said.
Tourism Australia managing director John O'Sullivan welcomed Qantas' return to Australia's fastest growing and most valuable tourism market.
"It's great to see Qantas returning to Beijing," Mr O'Sullivan said.
"With China already delivering more than a million annual visitors and growth forecasted to remain strong, I'm sure there will be no shortage of demand for the new service."
Qantas this month launched a Chinese language in-flight magazine and changed its menu to incorporate Asian cuisine. It also has 150 cabin crew that can speak Mandarin or Cantonese.
Qantas shares were up four cents at $3.17 at 1310 AEDT, in a lower Australian share market.
