Singapore Airlines will launch daily flights to Beijing’s Daxing airport from 11 November – the first new point in its Chinese network since the easing of pandemic restrictions.
In a brief network update, the Star Alliance carrier says its flights to Beijing Daxing will be operated using Boeing 787-10s, and will be subject to regulatory approval.
SIA will also ramp up operations to Beijing Capital international airport to three daily flights from 5 August, compared to 18 weekly flights currently. The move takes SIA’s operations to the Chinese capital to 28 weekly services.
The launch of Beijing Daxing follows months of tepid recovery on outbound travel demand. At its annual results briefing in May, SIA group chief commercial officer Lee Lik Hsin said that while travel into China “has been strong”, outbound “has not yet recovered fully to pre-pandemic levels”.
He also acknowledged that “our capacity to China is still lower than pre-Covid” levels, but declined to provide a specific breakdown.
The airline and its low-cost unit Scoot also have not fully restored its Mainland China network: before the launch of Beijing Daxing, the two carriers only fly to 23 out of 25 points
In its latest announcement, SIA reiterated its “firm commitment to this important market”.
Says SIA acting senior vice-president marketing planning Dai Haoyu: “China is a key market for the Singapore Airlines Group. This new flight to Beijing Daxing allows SIA to offer an additional daily service to Beijing, a popular destination for both tourist and business travellers.”
