Tianjin Airlines is the latest Chinese carrier to stretch its wings to Australia following the arrival of its inaugural service to Melbourne.
Flight GS7945, operated by Airbus A330-200 B-8596, landed at Melbourne Tullamarine at 1130 local time on Wednesday, some 10 and a half hours after departing from Chongqing.
The aircraft was on the ground for about two hours before operating the reciprocal GS7946 back to Chongqing.
Tianjin Airlines has scheduled three flights a week to Melbourne, its first Australian destination and second in Oceania. The airline started Tianjin-Chongqing-Auckland flights in December 2016.
And a report on the Airline Route website from mid-October showed the airline had filed a proposed twice weekly Tianjin-Zhengzhou-Sydney service due to start on January 28 2018 with A330-200s. However, the flight is not yet bookable on the airline’s website.
The Chinese carrier is one of the HNA Group-affiliated carriers alongside Beijing Capital Airlines, Hainan Airlines and Hong Kong Airlines that are part of the alliance with Virgin Australia that received approval from competition regulators in June.
HNA is a major shareholder in Virgin Australia.
