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American Airlines completes Beijing realignment with move to new Daxing airport

Edward Russell
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Edward Russell Is a Senior Aviation Business Reporter at The Points Guy. Edward joined the TPG team in June 2019 after seven years at FlightGlobal.
Oct. 12, 2020
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2 min read
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American Airlines completes Beijing realignment with move to new Daxing airport
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American Airlines will move to Beijing's giant new Daxing airport in March, completing the realignment of U.S. carriers in the Chinese capital.

The Oneworld Alliance carrier will operate its first flight to Daxing (PKX) on March 27, marking its return to Beijing after a more than year-long hiatus, American said recently. American will offer daily service between Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) and Daxing with a Boeing 787-8.

Tickets for American's service to Daxing went on sale on Monday. Introductory one-way economy fares between Dallas/Fort Worth and Beijing begin at $890.

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The move marks the expected realignment of U.S. air service to Beijing. In 2021, American and Delta Air Lines will have both moved to Daxing where their partners — China Southern Airlines and China Eastern Airlines, respectively — operate hubs. United Airlines will remain at Beijing Capital (PEK), where its partner Air China maintains a hub.

Delta was due to move to Daxing on March 28 but has yet to set a date for its return to Beijing. The SkyTeam Alliance carrier resumed flights to Shanghai Pudong (PVG) in June.

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American, Delta and United all suspended flights to Beijing during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic in February.

Related: China’s president opens Beijing’s massive new Daxing airport

Beijing Daxing opened in September 2019. With a massive new star-shaped terminal designed by Zaha Hadid Architects, it can handle 72 million passengers annually with contact gates for 79 planes.

Chinese authorities built Daxing with to relieve congestion at Beijing Capital. The city's primary airport was the second busiest in the world with more than 100 million travelers in 2018, according to Airports Council International (ACI) data.

When American lands at Daxing, it will be smaller in Beijing than it was before the pandemic. The airline will not resume flights between Los Angeles (LAX) and Beijing next year, having returned rights to fly the route to the U.S. Department of Transportation in July.

Related: American drops 19 long-haul routes; cuts in LAX, adds in Seattle

Featured image by An American Airlines Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner with registration N818AL lands at Athens International Airport in Greece (Photo by Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images)