News
Southern China’s Donghai Airlines to fly to Darwin?
September 1st 2017
In July, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) announced that Shenzhen-based Donghai Airlines had applied for traffic rights between Shenzhen and Darwin. Read More »
Although there has not been an official launch announcement, media reports suggested Donghai will start a twice to three weekly B737 service to Darwin in late September. It will be the carrier’s first international route.
Last month, Northern Territory tourism minister, Lauren Moss, said Donghai’s application was a “positive step forward” after years of efforts in seeking to open scheduled routes to Darwin. Moss said she met with Donghai on a recent trip to China. “The fact we are seeing Chinese airlines show intent to come to the Northern Territory is a positive first step,” she said. “We’d hope to see services on the ground as soon as possible. We are certainly working towards that.”
Aviation in Darwin took a hit in June when Malaysia Airlines terminated its flights to Kuala Lumpur, citing unprofitability. The decision has left Darwin with only scheduled international routes of four-weekly Philippine Airlines A320 flight to Manila and up to nine a week flights to Singapore on SilkAir and Jetstar. Darwin also offers eight weekly frequencies to Denpasar on Indonesia AirAsia and Jetstar.
Donghai operates 17 B737-800s from its Shenzhen base and has 25 B737 MAX 8 and five B787-9s on order from Boeing.
