The first flights to and from Beijing’s new airport, Daxing, were operated about a month ago, on September 26, 2019. Since then, the airport has been served by a number of Chinese airlines.
Today, on October 27, 2019, however, three foreign airlines operated their first flights to the airport.
The First Three Foreign Airlines to Serve Beijing Daxing Airport
The very first flight operated by a foreign airline to Beijing Daxing was British Airways flight 39 from London Heathrow.
The flight was operated by a Boeing 777-300ER and landed in the Chinese capital just after 9AM. It took off for its return flight just before 1PM, becoming the first flight operated by a foreign airline to depart from the airport.
Rather than being a brand new route, British Airways simply moved its daily flights from the older Capital airport to Daxing which is currently used by China Eastern, its oneworld partner, as well.
The other two airlines to inaugurate their flights to Beijing Daxing were Royal Brunei Airlines and Himalaya Airlines.
While Royal Brunei used to operate flights to Beijing in the past, today’s flight from Bandar Seri Begawan to Daxing marked its return to the Chinese capital. The airline puts its A320neo aircraft on the route.
Initially, it will operate four weekly rotations, however, according to Karam Chand, the Chief Executive Officer of Royal Brunei Airlines:
As Brunei’s national carrier, the reintroduction of Beijing flights supports our network development and builds on the strong bilateral relationship between the two countries. Beijing presents a huge opportunity for us in one of the fastest growing markets in the world and hence our plan to increase to daily flights around the Chinese New Year 2020.
Finally, for Himalaya Airlines, a Nepalese airline that operated its first flight in 2016, Beijing is a brand new destination. It will operate four weekly flights between Kathmandu and the Chinese capital using A320 aircraft.
Other Foreign Airlines Are Scheduled to Follow
Currently, four other airlines – Finnair, Malaysia Airlines, LOT Polish Airlines, and Royal Air Maroc are scheduled to launch flights to Daxing airport.
Later this year, on November 3, 2019, Finnair is scheduled to launch three weekly flights from Helsinki to Daxing airport in addition to its existing daily flights to Beijing Capital airport.
Malaysia Airlines will relocate its daily flight from Capital airport to Daxing airport starting from January 1, 2020.
LOT Polish Airlines’ will land at Daxing airport for the first time on January 16, 2020. From then on, it will operate four weekly flights. Those will be operated in addition to the airline’s three weekly flights to Capital airport – allowing it to serve the Chinese capital daily.
Finally, Royal Air Maroc’s first flight will arrive at the airport a day later, on January 17, 2020. It will be the airline’s first time to serve China, and the route will be operated three times a week.
Summary
Going forwards, the plan seems to be for oneworld and SkyTeam airlines to operate out of Daxing airport and for Star Alliance airlines to stay at Capital airport. Especially for the local airlines.
As for the foreign airlines, chances are most will follow the same pattern to allow for easy transfers of their passengers to their alliance partners’ domestic fights. That said, only a handful of airlines – those mentioned above – have either moved to the new airport or have specific plans for their move at this point.
For the foreseeable future, the vast majority of flights operated by non-Chinese airlines will keep using the older Capital airport.
