Passengers
3,656,393
12 months to May 2026
Australia and China
20 cities · 30 city pairs with recent passenger traffic · 18 in the lost-route record · 3 with no post-2003 passenger record · data from Jan 1985
Inbound
1,832,318
arriving in Australia
Outbound
1,824,075
leaving Australia
Australian ports
8
represented in this record
Traffic: 12 months to May 2026
Passengers over time
To May 2026
Cities in China
Airlines flying this route
Click any column heading to sort ⇅
| Airline | Passengers, 12 months | Share | Flying since |
|---|---|---|---|
| China Southern Airlines | 1,321,350 | 36% | Sep 1997 |
| China Eastern Airlines | 963,380 | 26% | Sep 1996 |
| Xiamen Airlines | 309,027 | 8% | Nov 2015 |
| Sichuan Airlines | 269,297 | 7% | Feb 2013 |
| Air China | 262,560 | 7% | Jan 1985 |
| Juneyao Air | 196,525 | 5% | Dec 2024 |
| Hainan Airlines | 160,475 | 4% | Jan 2011 |
| Beijing Capital Airlines | 119,911 | 3% | Sep 2016 |
| ShenZhen Airlines | 30,997 | 1% | Dec 2025 |
| Tianjin Airlines | 28,681 | 1% | Nov 2017 |
12 months to May 2026
Shares are of passengers carried, not of seats or flights, and they cover every Australian airport. Airlines are reported against destinations rather than city pairs, so these figures cannot be broken down further by city.
Airlines that used to fly here
Carried passengers between Australia and China at some point since 1985, none in the 12 months to May 2026.
Recent passenger traffic
Positive passenger traffic appears within the latest year of the published BITRE series. This is record recency, not real-time operating status.
| Route | Passengers, 12 months |
|---|---|
| Sydney ↔ Guangzhou | 515,706 |
| Sydney ↔ Shanghai | 440,887 |
| Melbourne ↔ Shanghai | 402,855 |
| Melbourne ↔ Guangzhou | 390,108 |
| Brisbane ↔ Guangzhou | 259,917 |
| Sydney ↔ Beijing | 160,248 |
| Sydney ↔ Xiamen | 158,059 |
| Melbourne ↔ Xiamen | 150,968 |
| Sydney ↔ Chengdu | 135,155 |
| Melbourne ↔ Chengdu | 134,142 |
| Brisbane ↔ Shanghai | 129,931 |
| Melbourne ↔ Beijing | 103,439 |
| Sydney ↔ Haikou | 86,437 |
| Melbourne ↔ Haikou | 74,038 |
| Sydney ↔ Shenzhen | 69,096 |
| Melbourne ↔ Hangzhou | 64,329 |
| Melbourne ↔ Nanjing | 48,406 |
| Sydney ↔ Nanjing | 45,286 |
| Adelaide ↔ Guangzhou | 41,510 |
| Sydney ↔ Qingdao | 41,403 |
| Perth ↔ Guangzhou | 39,203 |
| Sydney ↔ Wuhan | 34,553 |
| Melbourne ↔ Shenzhen | 30,997 |
| Sydney ↔ Hangzhou | 28,571 |
| Sydney ↔ Chongqing | 21,278 |
| Sydney ↔ Xi'an | 18,581 |
| Melbourne ↔ Qingdao | 14,179 |
| Sydney ↔ Jinan | 11,494 |
| Sydney ↔ Zhengzhou | 8,563 |
| Sydney ↔ Tianjin | 1,271 |
Routes Australia has lost
No passenger traffic recorded in the comparable published series for over a year. See the lost-route record for the full methodology.
No post-2003 passenger record
These retained city pairs have no positive passenger record in the comparable series from January 2003 onward. Some have freight or mail records, and some appear only in the earlier passenger series.