Jetstar flights to China: Melbourne to Zhengzhou route to launch in December

Jetstar will launch a new international route in December with direct flights from Melbourne to Zhengzhou in central China.

While Jetstar primarily operates internationally on leisure routes to destinations favoured by Australians (such as south-east Asia, Hawaii and Japan), this new route is aimed at bringing Chinese tourists into the country.

The airline predicts the twice-weekly flights will bring an additional 35,000 Chinese tourists to Australia each year.

"China already accounts for the largest source of tourism in Victoria, and by 2020 it's predicted that China will overtake New Zealand to be Australia's largest tourism market," said Jetstar CEO Jayne Hrdlicka.

"We know that Chinese travellers generally visit two or three cities when they visit Australia so we expect this will boost tourism to other parts of Australia."

This is the first direct flight from Australia to China for Jetstar and the latest in an increasingly large market for flights between the two countries. Virgin Australia launched its direct flights to Hong Kong just last month, while over the past few years several Chinese carriers have started direct flights to Australia, including China Eastern, Air China, Hainan Airlines, China Southern, Xiamen Airlines, Beijing Capital Airlines and Sichuan Airlines.

Jetstar said fares to Zhengzhou would start from $566 one way and would begin on December 6. The airline will fly Boeing 787 Dreamliners on the route.

See also: Cheap flights to Europe as Chinese airlines bring in new routes

See also: 20 things that will shock first-time visitors to China