China Eastern takes off with flights out of Daxing Airport
A China Eastern staff member checks the temperature of a passenger before boarding at Daxing Airport on Sunday.
China Eastern Airlines began shifting most of its operations in Beijing to the Daxing International Airport on Sunday.
The Shanghai-based airline plans to move 57 daily flights from the Capital International Airport to the Daxing Airport, to become one of the biggest carriers at the mega airport.
After completion, China Eastern and its subsidiaries including Shanghai Airlines and China United Airlines will operate a total of 241 daily flights at Daxing Airport, accounting for more than 40 percent of the total flights operated at the new airport.
China Eastern said its network at Daxing will cover most parts of the country by then, helping bring the economy of the north Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region back on track after the novel coronavirus pandemic.
The first flight from Daxing to Xi'an in northwest Shaanxi Province took off at 10am on Sunday.
Passengers will be able to take China Eastern flights between Daxing and 37 domestic cities such as Shanghai, Xi'an, Kunming in southwest Yunnan Province, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. Four new business routes between Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu and Chongqing will be newly opened at the Daxing airport.
Due to the pandemic, China Eastern has moved all its international flights from Daxing to the capital airport to allow for strict management and to prevent imported cases.
The airline has implemented measures to ensure the safety of passengers and staff.
A smart boarding system has also been launched at Daxing Airport. Passengers can check in their luggage and complete the entire boarding procedure through facial scanning.
Furthermore, Daxing Airport has installed 27 temperature check points and 35 temperature check channels. Each passenger to or from the airport is required to undergo a check.
A staff member serves passengers in front of the ticket counter of China Eastern at Daxing Airport on Sunday.
The airport's advanced ventilation system ensures air sanitation. Key areas such as toilets and elevators are disinfected every two hours. All the facilities in the terminal building are disinfected at the end of operations every day.
Most of China Eastern's flights between Shanghai and Beijing, one of the most popular domestic routes in the country, will continue to operate out of Capital International Airport.
China Eastern plans to develop the Daxing Airport as its second transport hub, after Shanghai's two airports.
The new airport, near the junction of Beijing's Daxing District and Langfang in north Hebei Province, is expected to handle 45 million passengers annually by 2021 and 72 million by 2025, making it one of the busiest airports in the world, on par with Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in the US.
Covering a land area of 47 square kilometers, the new airport will be double the size of the existing Capital Airport, which is currently the largest airport in China. It aims to meet the country's soaring air-service demand and relieve pressure on the current capital airport.
China United Airlines, a budget carrier under China Eastern, will relocate all of its flights in Beijing to Daxing. These will focus on popular destinations along with Shanghai Airlines.
China Southern Airlines has shifted its Shanghai-Beijing flights to Daxing Airport from April 13, along with half its other Beijing flights.
The Guangzhou-based China Southern, the largest operator at Beijing’s new mega airport, plans to transfer half of its flight operated at the Beijing Capital International Airport to Daxing by May 2.
A China Eastern service counter at Daxing Airport.
A China Eastern staff member ready to serve passengers at Daxing Airport on Sunday.
A passenger prepares to board an aircraft at Daxing Airport.
