British Airways has switched its Heathrow-Beijing service to the new Daxing International, becoming the first international carrier to use the airport since it opened last month.
BA’s first flight into Beijing Daxing International airport landed yesterday morning (Sunday October 27).
Other international carriers including Royal Brunei Airlines, Himalaya Airlines, Lot Polish and Finnair are all scheduled to operate flights into the airport in the coming days, with more following in the new year.
Located around 50km to the south of Beijing’s city centre on the capital’s traditional north-south central axis, the 700,000 sqm airport was designed in partnership with British architectural firm Zaha Hadid, and has four civilian runways (plus one for military use).
Features include over 300 shops and restaurants, real-time luggage tracking, and facial recognition and self-service biometrics at security, providing “a paperless journey from check-in to boarding”.
The airport is aiming to reach a capacity of 45 million passengers by 2022, increasing to 72 million by 2025.
BA’s flights schedules to and from the airport are:
- BA0039 departs Heathrow at 1720, landing into Daxing at 1025 the following day
- BA0038 departs Daxing at 1210, landing into Heathrow at 1525
Commenting on the news Noella Ferns, British Airways’ executive vice president in Greater China and the Philippines, said:
“British Airways is hugely proud to be the first international airline to fly into Beijing Daxing. This stunning and innovative new airport and the world-class customer experience it provides will play an important part of our strategy to increase travel between China, the UK and beyond.”
