The Australian and Chinese governments have agreed on bilateral opening of their aviation sectors, Australian Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Darren Chester and Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment Steven Ciobo said in a statement on Sunday.
The statement said the new arrangements will remove all capacity restrictions between Australia and China for each airlines, allowing Australian tourism businesses to take advantage of the world's largest and fastest-growing consumer market.
"We have also liberalized traffic rights and code share arrangements, which are important for Australian airlines. This will enable Australian and Chinese airlines to service destinations between and beyond both countries and allow them to take full advantage of their cooperative arrangements with their commercial alliance partners," said Chester.
The two countries have seen a boom of direct flights in recent months. Air China, China's national flag carrier, started service between Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan Province and Sydney in November this year, while China Southern Airline is expected to begin service between Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong Province, and Adelaide in December. Qantas also announced the relaunch of daily service from Sydney to Beijing in January.
Ciobo said there is unlimited potential for Australian tourism following this historic agreement.