Infotmation of TTFly: China's Xiamen Airlines will launch nonstop 2X-weekly service linking Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport (China's Fujian province) and Tullamarine International Airport (Melbourne, Australia).

The Fujian-based, full-service carrier will start flights from July 1, 2016 using a three-class, 237-seat Boeing 787-8 aircraft. This is the same configuration the carrier uses on its Xiamen-Sydney flights launched in late 2015.

The new service will be the second nonstop China-Australia service to opt for Melbourne, adding to existing Melbourne-Chengdu service offered by Sichuan Airlines.

Tullamarine Airport billed the new schedule as part of a push to sign up carriers servicing Tier 2 Chinese cities outside Shanghai and Beijing. Xiamen has a population of 4 million and is a major travel hub across eastern Chinese provinces.

Tullamarine Airport CEO Lyell Strambi said the new service would drive "significant ... growth in international passenger numbers to Melbourne," and added the airport had been working closely with Chinese airlines to offer more direct Melbourne services from Chinese destinations.

Xiamen Airlines flies an all-Boeing fleet of 149 aircraft to more than 50 cities across China and over 20 international destinations in Asia, Europe and North America. It also owns two local airlines -- Hebei Airlines and Jiangxi Air -- out of its Xiamen hub and carries over 23 million passengers a year.