Virgin Australia has launched a play for the lucrative Chinese tourist market, with flights to Hong Kong beginning from Thursday.
Virgin Australia CEO John Borghetti told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Thursday that Hong Kong was the perfect gateway to China.
“You’re geographically situated in a position where, within a five-hour flight time, you can access half of the globe’s population. So, it’s very important for us. It’s the spearhead of our Asian expansion,” Borghetti said.
“China is the future for us, in terms of in-bound tourism to Australia, certainly, but as Virgin Australia, we see this as a huge potential,” he said.
The airline has begun with five flights a week to Hong Kong, but Borghetti said that, ideally, the carrier would like 21 flights a week, although he said getting slots at Hong Kong’s busy airport was challenging.
Travelers from China and Hong Kong already make up around a quarter of the tourist dollars spent in Australia, and China was expected to overtake New Zealand as the biggest source of inbound tourists this year.
The founder of the Virgin Group and 10 percent shareholder in Virgin Australia, Sir Richard Branson, highlighted the importance of the Chinese market to Australia.
