Hong Kong Airlines is set to begin Sydney-Hong Kong services later this year, increasing competition on the already well-serviced route.

Half-owned by China's Hainan Airlines, HK plans three direct flights per week between the cities starting in November, using an Airbus A330 with 24 business class seats and 259 seats in economy passengers.

A similar service for Melbourne-Hong Kong is also being considered, Hong Kong Airlines commercial director Wayne Wang told the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation.

According to CAPA, Mr Wang says that "Sydney Airport has been actively courting Hong Kong Airlines".

With Cathay Pacific, Qantas and Virgin Atlantic already competing for Sydney-Hong Kong traffic, and all active in the business travel market, even HX's three weekly flights will shake things up as it boosts the SYD-HK tally to an average of seven services per day.

However, unlike Cathay and Qantas, HX does not belong to any of the three major airline alliances (Oneworld, Star and Skyteam) and will have to rely on a third-party lounge sharing arrangement in Sydney Airport, so the airline will need to fight hard -- most likely in the pricing stakes -- to win over business travellers or even convince them to sample their service.