Delta has confirmed that it will move its Beijing flights from Capital Airport to the new Daxing Airport from March 2020.
The relocation will make Delta the first US carrier to operate in the new Beijing Daxing International Airport, which began operations on September 25 this year.
Delta currently operates daily flights between Beijing and Detroit using an Airbus A350-900 aircraft, and also flies daily between Beijing and Seattle using a Boeing 767-300 aircraft.
Delta said it will adopt the new Airbus A330-900neo aircraft for the Beijing-Seattle route by the first half of 2020. Delta’s service into Beijing will feature its premium on-board products including Delta One suites by then.
The US carrier said its relocation will come at a time when its Skyteam partner China Eastern has announced moving its services to Daxing Airport, which will “ensure smooth and convenient international-domestic connections for customers from both airlines”.
It added that China Eastern is expected to move most of the flights except for the Beijing-Shanghai route to the new Daxing Airport in the first quarter of 2020.
Delta and China Eastern are both Skyteam members. In 2015, Delta invested a sum of US$450 million into China Eastern, and acquired a 3.55 per cent stake in the Shanghai-based carrier.
After the relocation of both airlines, Delta’s passengers arriving at the new Daxing Airport will have access to more than 30 domestic destinations in China with codeshare flights operated by China Eastern.
Delta also mentioned that its partner airlines “will eventually move most of their connecting flights to the new Beijing Daxing International Airport”, where it will begin operations on March 29, 2020.
However, it said that the itinerary may still indicate a short inter-airport connection transfer from Capital Airport to Daxing Airport “until China Eastern loads their final PKX schedule into the system”. It added that once their schedule is loaded into the system, the itinerary will be updated to reflect a same airport transfer at Daxing Airport.
“In case there are any itinerary changes, Delta Reservations will contact you via telephone to book you onto a new connecting flight from PKX or process a refund,” said Delta.
What’s more, China Eastern’s new domestic and international lounges at Daxing Airport will be open to Delta One customers and SkyMiles Diamond, Platinum or Gold Medallion members.
China Eastern now has two domestic lounges and one international lounge at Daxing Airport. One domestic lounge is located on Level 3 in the southeastern pier, while the other is situated in the central area of the terminal. The international lounge is located on Level 4 in the central area of the terminal. All the three lounges are equipped with food and drinks, as well as shower facilities.
“We look forward to moving to our new home in Beijing,” said Wong Hong, Delta’s president, Greater China and Singapore.
“The brand new Daxing International Airport will provide us a great opportunity to better serve the growing needs of our customers in China. As Delta operates in the new mega airport, working with China Eastern side by side, customers will enjoy the improved departure and arrival times, seamless connection, more convenient baggage delivery, and faster security check, customs and boarding/arrival procedures.”
Also commenting on the news, Kong Yue, deputy general manager of Daxing International Airport, said: “We are excited to have Delta Air Lines as one of the key tenant airlines at the Daxing Airport, which is designed for connection. We share the same goal of providing passengers with seamless and pleasant travel experience.”
“With Delta’s successful move to Daxing Airport, we’ll continue working closely together to ensure passenger arriving and departing in Daxing Airport could enjoy the best-in-class services.”
Approximately 46 km to the south of the Beijing city center and on the border of Hebei Province, Beijing’s new Daxing Airport is the second international airport in the Chinese capital, which has been designed with a goal of reaching a total passenger capacity of 100 million in the long term.
Here’s our guide on how to get from the new Daxing Airport to Beijing’s city centre.
In September, Delta moved its service in Shanghai to the new Shanghai Pudong International Airport Satellite 1 Terminal. The airline currently operates four non-stop daily services between Shanghai Pudong and major U.S. cities including Detroit, Seattle, Los Angeles and Atlanta.
Delta said by the first half of 2020, all of its six non-stop daily services between China and the U.S. will be served by the A350 and the new A330-900neo, or the newly retrofitted B777 aircraft, which are equipped with the airline’s next-generation Delta One suite and Delta Premium Select products.
