By Zhao Zhanhui, People’s Daily
As a man surnamed Nieflew from Beijing to Shanghai on China Southern Airlines flight CZ8887, the total throughput ofthe Beijing Daxing International Airportwas brought to 10 million on September 22.
The newly-built airport is expected to see its passenger throughput reach 16 million by the end of 2020.
To celebrate the one year anniversary of the official operation of the airport, which falls onSeptember 25, China Southern Airlines has launched its colored aircraft featuring the China International Import Expo (CIIE) at the Beijing Daxing International Airport.
The newly-decorated CIIE-themed aircraft will operate flights from the Beijing DaxingInternational Airport to Shanghai, Chongqing, Changsha and other major cities in the country.
At its busiest, the airport has handled more than 660 flights a day, with daily passenger flow peaking at 92,000 person-times.
As of September 21, it hadcompleted takeoffs and landings of 84,000 flights, with a cargo and mail throughput of about 39,000 tons.
Eighteen domestic airlines now operate at the airport, including China Southern Airlines, China Eastern Airlines, Air China, China United Airlines andXiamenAirlines.
They haveopened 187 domestic air routes at the airport, which connect 129 waypoints across the country, as well as five cargo routes linking the airport with PudongNew Area of Shanghai and cities including Chengdu, Hangzhou, Nantong and Wuxi.
In the face of challenges brought about by the COVID-19 epidemic, Beijing Daxing International Airport has successfully completed four batches of flight transfers and a seasonal adjustment of flights, helping continuously optimize the takeoff and landing slots at the Beijing Capital International Airport and Beijing Daxing International Airport and facilitate the recovery of the aviation industry.
Since September, Beijing DaxingInternational Airport has ranked top among airports in Chinain terms of the growth rate of flights. One of the most popular routes in operation at the airport, the routefrom Beijing to Guangzhou, capital of south China’s Guangdong province, has witnessed itsaverage daily passenger volume reachmore than 9,600 person-times.
China Southern Airlines, whichhas made Beijing Daxing International Airport its major base for operation, hasthe largest market share, the widest flight network coverage, and the largest number of passenger volume among airlines operating at the airport.
Since it started operation at the airport about one year ago, the airline has opened 45 routes and operated 15,000 flights, which account for over 45 percent of the flights serving the airport.
Besides, the company has already transferred 80 percent of its flights in Beijing to Beijing Daxing International Airport.
It will have completedthe transfer of its remaining flights on the routes tocities of Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu and Kunming by the end of October, thus achieving all its goals for transferringflights five months ahead of schedule.
China Southern Airlines intends to undertake 50 percent of the passenger traffic attheairport in the future, striving to establish a dual-hub operation model in Beijing and Guangzhou.
By 2025, China Southern Airlineswillhave put into operation over 200 aircrafts at the airport, seen daily takeoffs and landings of its flights exceed 900, and handled28.8 million passenger trips.
