The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) has approved new routes operated by four Chinese airlines departing from the new Beijing Daxing International Airport (PKX).
China Eastern Airlines will fly seven times a week from Daxing Airport to Paris, Tokyo Haneda and Seoul, as well as four times weekly to Moscow. Currently, the Shanghai-based airline only codeshares with Air France on the Beijing Capital-Paris Charles De Gaulle route, with two daily flights operated by a Boeing 777-300 (AF381/MU8665) and a Boeing 777-200 (AF125/MU8667).
China Southern Airlines will also fly seven times weekly from the new airport to Moscow, Tokyo Haneda and the South Korean city of Cheongju, as well as three times weekly to Busan. The Guangzhou-based carrier now only codeshares with Japan Airlines on the Beijing Capital-Tokyo route, with three daily flights (JL20/CZ4858, JL22/CZ4854 and JL860/CZ4856) operated by a Boeing 767-300 aircraft.
Beijing Capital Airlines will launch a new route from Daxing Airport to Busan. The budget airline will fly this route four times a week.
Another low-cost airline, China United Airlines, will also operate seven-times-weekly flights to the South Korean cities of Cheongju and Daegu. The low-cost carrier is currently based in Beijing Nanyuan Airport (NAY), the oldest airport in China which opened in 1910 and is now a public and military joint-use airport. However, the airport will be closed when the new Daxing Airport enters into service by the end of this month, and China United Airlines will then shift all its operations to the new airport as a result.
Currently, the four airlines don’t operate any non-stop flights themselves from Beijing to the aforementioned destinations. The launch date, aircraft used on the routes, and more detailed flight schedules remain unknown at this stage.
Beijing Daxing Airport is set to open on September 30. Located in the Chinese capital’s southern Daxing District, the government intends the airport to be a new international aviation hub in China. Passengers travelling from the city to the new airport can take the Daxing Airport Express or the Beijing-Xiong’an Intercity Railway, both of which will only take around 20 minutes.
A few foreign airlines, including British Airways, LOT Polish and Finnair, will shift part of or all their Beijing services from Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK) to the new airport. Royal Air Maroc and Royal Brunei Airlines will also launch new services from and to the new airport.
