Juneyao Airlines announced on Thursday it will launch direct flights from Shanghai to Australian destinations of Melbourne and Sydney from mid December, which will be the first regular passenger flight to the Southern Hemisphere by the Shanghai-based carrier.

The Shanghai-Melbourne route will be initially launched on December 19 and operated every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday between the Shanghai Pudong International Airport and Melbourne Airport.

The flight between Shanghai and Sydney will debut on December 16, and will be conducted between the two cities every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.

With the launch of the two new direct routes, Juneyao Airlines would operate one flight per day between Shanghai and Australia by then.