Beijing Daxing International Airport will add about 20 overseas routes as the summer schedule starts on April 2, strengthening commercial and cultural ties between China and the rest of the world. Meanwhile, Hainan Airlines is now flying on a daily basis between Brussels and Beijing Capital airport.
A Qatar Airways flight from Doha landed on March 26 at Daxing airport, marking the resumption of passenger services between the capitals of Qatar and China for the first time since the start of the pandemic. Operated daily with a Boeing 777-300ER, the service provides customers with added options when planning travel to and from China. This also allows passengers from the Jing-Jin-Ji Metropolitan Region (Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei) to seamlessly transit to over 150 destinations in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the Americas via Doha's Hamad International Airport. Beijing is the fifth gateway in China that Qatar Airways has resumed flying to since the pandemic began, which increases the airline's operations in the market to 39 weekly flights during the peak of the summer season of 2023. “We will launch more flights to China. During the peak of the IATA summer season 2023, there will be 39 routes to five cities, including Beijing Daxing and Guangzhou, making Qatar Airways the largest Gulf carrier to operate in China based on overall frequency,” Chan Cheong Eu, Qatar Airways' Senior Manager for Sales, North Asia told the Global Times.
Air Macau also resumed flights from Beijing Daxing to Macao, followed by a route from Beijing Daxing to Phnom Penh run by Cambodia Airways. Etihad Airways, and Air Asia will open flights from Beijing Daxing to Abu Dhabi and Kuala Lumpur this week. China Southern Airlines will start flights from Beijing Daxing to Moscow four times per week, and the frequency will be increased to daily from June 19. The carrier will also restart the Beijing Daxing to Amsterdam and Seoul Gimpo routes. More routes are expected to cover Osaka and London. A total of 169 domestic and foreign airlines will offer 117,222 passenger and cargo flights per week during the summer, data from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) showed. In terms of international passenger transport, 28 domestic airlines plan to operate 6,772 international regular passenger flights every week, serving 101 cities in 55 countries and regions. There are 88 foreign airlines flying to China from 79 cities in 47 countries, and they plan to operate 3,808 regular passenger flights per week, the CAAC said, as reported by the Global Times.
The volume of airline passengers in Hong Kong in February increased 24-fold from the previous year, but the monthly figure still only accounted for 35.6% of pre-pandemic levels. Figures released by the Hong Kong Airport Authority showed a surge in traffic at the city’s airport last month with 2.1 million travelers. The rebound came after Hong Kong began gradually rolling back its stringent coronavirus curbs towards the end of last year, including the lifting of most entry restrictions for foreign arrivals in December. Traffic to and from Southeast Asia and Japan had recorded the most significant increases. During the first two months of 2023, the city handled 4.2 million passengers, representing a 26-fold increase from the same period last year. The figures also showed the number of flight movements reached 32,520, up 60% from the year before. Quarantine-free travel between Hong Kong and mainland China resumed at four border crossings on January 8, and at all other control points on February 6, with the city scrapping all pre-departure testing requirements last month. According to the Hong Kong Tourism Board, the number of visitors to the city in February rose threefold to 1.462 million from January, exceeding 1 million for the first time since the start of the pandemic.
On a cargo front, the total volume, as well as the number of flight movements, in February respectively increased 6.7% and 95.7% to 290,000 tons and 16,305 cargo flights from the previous year, the South China Morning Post added.
