Eight Chinese airlines now fly to Australia. Here’s how they stack up

Reputation: Skytrax’s Air China rating is three stars out of five, and 4/10 based on 795 customer reviews. The lowest score of two out of five stars is for in-flight entertainment and food and beverages, but for seat comfort, staff service and value for money the airline rates three stars.

Prices for a return economy flight in June*:
Sydney to London from $1313
Melbourne to London from $1410
Sydney to Beijing from $936
Melbourne to Beijing from $905

See: airchina.com.au

China Eastern Airlines

Australia flights: From Melbourne to Nanjing and Shanghai, from Sydney to Wuhan, Nanjing, Shanghai, Hangzhou and Jinan, from Brisbane to Shanghai.

Onward flights: From its Shanghai base China Eastern flies to nine cities in Europe, four in North America and operates a comprehensive network servicing every major city in China and Asia, a total of 1050 destinations in 166 countries.

Reputation: Skytrax gives China Eastern three stars, and 5/10 based on 706 customer reviews. Lowest score – two out of five stars – is for in-flight entertainment but for food and beverages, seat comfort, staff service and value for money the airline scores three.

Prices for a return economy flight in June*:
Sydney to London from $1480
Melbourne to London from $1460
Sydney to Shanghai from $927
Melbourne to Shanghai from $902
Brisbane to Shanghai from $1570

See: oa.ceair.com

China Southern Airlines

Australia flights: From Perth, Adelaide and Brisbane to Guangzhou and from Melbourne and Sydney to Guangzhou and Beijing.

Onward flights: From its base in Guangzhou, China Southern operates non-stop flights to eight European cities, five in North America, 49 in Asia and more than 100 in China.

Reputation: Skytrax gives China Southern four stars out of five, and a remarkable 8/10 from over 2000 customer reviews. In every category – food and beverage, seat comfort and value for money – the airlines scores four stars out of a possible five. Recent feedback suggests problems with flight cancellations and subsequent applications for refunds, but for those who actually fly the reviews reflect high levels of satisfaction.

Prices for a return economy flight in June*:
Sydney to London from $1375
Melbourne to London from $1348
Brisbane to London from $1270
Sydney to Guangzhou from $899
Melbourne to Guangzhou from $807
Perth to Guangzhou from $900

See: csair.com

Hainan Airlines

Australia flights: From Melbourne and Sydney non-stop to Haikou.

Onward flights: From its base in Haikou on Hainan Island, Hainan Airlines flies to 14 European cities, 10 in Asia and more than 70 in China.

Reputation: On Skytrax, Hainan Airlines gets five stars and 8/10 from 415 customer reviews. The airline gets four stars out of five in all categories with the exception of staff service, where it rates a perfect score. Recent reviews are generally from very good to A+.

Prices for a return economy flight in June*:
Sydney to Haikou from $990
Melbourne to Haikou from $950

See: hainanairlines.com

Juneyao Air

Australia flights: From Melbourne and Sydney to Shanghai. Juneyao Air is a recent appearance in Australia’s skies, with four weekly services between Sydney and Shanghai from December 17, 2024, and a thrice-weekly service between Melbourne and Shanghai which commenced three days later.

Onward flights: From Shanghai to South-East Asia, Japan, South Korea and four European cities.

Reputation: According to Skytrax, Juneyao is a three-star airline with a 4/10 rating from 41 reviews. The airline gets two stars out of five for food and beverages and in-flight entertainment, three for seat comfort, staff service and value for money. Some recent reviews suggest Juneyao has some way to go to achieve even a reasonable level of customer satisfaction.

Prices for a return economy flight in June*:
Sydney to Shanghai from $734
Melbourne to Haikou from $703

See: global.juneyaoair.com

Sichuan Airlines

Australia flights: From Melbourne and Sydney to Chengdu.

Onward flights: From Chengdu to cities throughout South-East Asia, Los Angeles and Vancouver and more than 100 cities in China. Rome and Istanbul are the carrier’s only European destinations.

Reputation: Sichuan Airlines gets a three-star rating from Skytrax and 5/10 from 50 customer reviews. The airline’s in-flight entertainment is rated two stars, in every other category the airline gets three. A seldom-seen Skytrax category is “Recommended”, and on this Sichuan Airlines gets a red X.

Prices for a return economy flight in June*:

From Sydney to Chengdu from $621
From Melbourne to Chengdu from $588

See: sichuanair.com

Tianjin Airlines

Australia flights: From Sydney to Chongqing and Zhengzhou.

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Onward flights: The airline operates flights to more than 90 destinations within China but its only Asian destinations are Malaysia, South Korea and Japan. The only European city served by Tianjin Airlines is London.

Reputation: Tianjin Airlines gets a three-star rating from Skytrax and 7/10 from 17 customer reviews. In terms of staff service and value for money the airline rates four stars out of five, three stars for food and beverages and seat comfort and two for in-flight entertainment.

Prices for a return economy flight in June*:

Although the airline currently flies from Sydney to Chongqing, there are no flights listed on their difficult-to-navigate website for June.

See: tianjin-air.com (no English language site)

Xiamen Air

Australia flights: from Melbourne and Sydney to Xiamen.

Onward flights: Xiamen Air operates flights throughout North Asia and South-East Asia with the exception of Myanmar, and more than 60 cities within China as well as Paris, Amsterdam, Vancouver, Los Angeles and New York.

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Reputation: Xiamen Air gets a three-star rating from Skytrax and 5/10 from 134 customer reviews. The airline’s staff service, food and beverages, seat comfort and value for money all rate three out of five, while in-flight entertainment dips to two.

Prices for a return economy flight in June*:
Sydney to Paris from $1433
Melbourne to Paris $1393
Sydney to Xiamen from $1170
Melbourne to Xiamen from $891

See: xiamenair.com

*Prices correct at the time of writing and subject to change.