International airline news

New international direct flights to Melbourne announced and an history making new route completed its inaugural flight.

Air Canada announced direct flights between Melbourne and Vancouver to start from June 2018 with three non-stop services a week, adding over 46,000 seats every year from Canada.

Melbourne is also pleased to welcome Jetstar’s non-stop service from Zhengzhou – giving Chinese travellers from important regional hubs heightened ability to reach Melbourne. The service is the first time an airline has flown from Zhengzhou to Australia.

Jetstar will service the route on a Boeing 787 aircraft, adding close to 35,000 seats from China per year. The two flights per week will commence on 6 December 2017.

Japan Airlines (JAL) commenced its daily non-stop service from Tokyo to Melbourne marking the first time a Japanese carrier has operated out of Melbourne.

The airline will fly a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, with a capacity of 186 seats. The aircraft is configured to provide a larger than normal allocation of premium seating, to capture the strong business links between Japan and Melbourne. The inaugural flight departed Melbourne Airport on Saturday 2 September 2017.