Qantas keeps its focus on a heavily contested China market

Qantas is focused on lifting its share of the Chinese travel market without sacrificing growth in other markets.

Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce.

Qantas is focused on lifting its share of the lucrative Chinese travel market without sacrificing growth in other markets.

“We have to make sure we are taking advantage of the Chinese market but not forget our other markets,” chief executive Alan Joyce told a tourism and transport conference in Sydney yesterday. “Flexibility is key here.”

China boasts more than 100 million travellers but Australia gets only 1 per cent of them, despite research showing the country is the destination Chinese tourists most want to visit.

The Chinese travel market is expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 13 per cent over the next decade, which makes it a market the airline cannot ignore, Mr Joyce said.

Qantas recommenced daily flights this year from Sydney to Beijing, its third destination in China after Shanghai and Hong Kong.

But while its presence in China is the largest ever, it faces stiff competition from ­rivals such as Air China, China Southern Airlines and Air New Zealand.

Yesterday, Hainan Airlines — owned by China’s HNA Group, which owns a stake in Virgin — announced it would start a twice-weekly direct ­service ­between Shenzhen and Brisbane from September.

Qantas is seeking to protect its flanks by ensuring growth is maintained in other markets.

“It is a market we know is extremely important and we have to do something to make sure that we maintain growth and are successful in that market,” Mr Joyce said.

“But we can’t ignore some of our other markets.”

In recent years, Qantas had seen a steady expansion in its share in the Japanese market, with growth at the strongest levels since the 1980s, Mr Joyce said.

The airline also recorded 14 per cent growth in the US last year.

Shares in Qantas ended 0.27 per cent softer at $5.56 yesterday, against a 0.17 per cent rise in the benchmark index.

AAP