China Eastern looks forward to ‘historic opportunity’

Beijing’s new airport presents China Eastern Airlines with a “historic opportunity” to expand its network in the capital, according to the general manager of the carrier’s planning and coordination division in the city.

Huang Pu also said that after the airport opens, Beijing will become the airline’s second headquarters after Shanghai.

Huang said Beijing Daxing International Airport is expected to open on Sept 30, and up to 40 percent of its passenger volume will be handled by China Eastern in the future.

As a result, the airline has attached great importance to the Beijing project and given priority to its safety and quality.

“The new airport will play a key role in China’s civil aviation history, because it is a ‘nexus’ for the coordinated development of the Beijing Tianjin-Hebei region, as well as a key point in the Belt and Road Initiative,” Huang added.

“China Eastern plans to invest 13.2 billion yuan ($1.95 billion) in building a supporting project at the new airport whose functions will include cargo, aircraft maintenance, special vehicle maintenance, airline food, ground services and a core working area,” Huang said.

China Eastern has made Beijing its most important market outside of its headquarters in Shanghai, and expects to handle 28.8 million passenger trips and 715,000 metric tons of cargo annually at the new airport by 2025.

Huang said the project is divided into two phases. The first, occupying 470,000 square meters, will be completed by the end of June and become operational on Sept 30. Construction of the second phase is due to start in the first half of this year, and will take two years to complete.

Relocating more than 60 aircraft and some 4,000 people overnight from Beijing Nanyuan Airport in the south of the city will present a major challenge for China United Airlines, a subsidiary of China Eastern, Huang said.

China United Airlines is tasked with moving to the new airport overnight and operating the first flight from it.

China Eastern’s remaining operations and facilities will move to the Daxing airport over four years, Huang said.

The airline will invest more than 120 billion yuan in the new airport, with over 20 billion yuan going to infrastructure construction and nearly 100 billion yuan for its Beijing fleet operation, Huang said.

The carrier will allocate 150 to 200 aircraft for its operations in Beijing, and their destinations will include domestic cities and those in the Americas, Europe, Oceania and Southeast Asia.

According to China Eastern, it carries more than 400,000 passengers a day, and takes over 120 million travelers annually to 1,074 destinations in 174 nations and regions.

The carrier operates the world’s seventh-largest fleet of about 700 aircraft.