Air China starts Beijing-Melbourne service

Air China, one of the country's leading carriers, began a direct Beijing-Melbourne air service on Monday, becoming the only airline to offer such service.

Four flights are available each week -- on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, separately. The service, using Airbus A330-200 aircraft, is expected to increase to daily operation from Oct. 25 of 2015.

For years, China has remained the largest trading partner, export and import source market and the largest source market of students and international visitors for Melbourne and Australia as a whole.