First cargo project completed for China Southern Airlines at Daxing Airport

Today, the first air cargo facility at the new Beijing Daxing Airport (PKX) was completed, according to CAAC News. The facility is both the first airfreight construction project and the first China Southern Airlines supporting facility to be completed at PKX.

Beijing Daxing is scheduled to open in September, and as part of the Civil Aviation Administration of China’s “one city, two airports” transfer scheme announced in January, the CAAC will assign carriers currently operating at Beijing Capital Airport (PEK) to PKX. Two of the major carriers assigned to PKX include China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines, two of the “Big Three” airlines based in Mainland China. The third, Air China, will continue to operate out of PEK.

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According to CAAC News, the construction project was completed about a month ahead of schedule, supporting the targeted in-service deadline of Sept. 30. Once PKX is operational, Guangzhou-based China Southern Cargo, which, in the past, has been restrained from expanding Beijing cargo and freighter operations by slot restrictions at PEK, plans to build up its PKX base in Beijing into a northern hub to complement its operations at its hub at Guangzhou Baiyun Airport (CAN).

Returning to the project at PKX, China Southern expects eventual annual domestic and international throughput at its Daxing hub to reach 450,000 tonnes and 200,000 tonnes, respectively. China Southern’s cargo terminal at PKX will be a “smart cargo station,” including such offerings as:

• An online reservation platform for deliveries;
• Real-time cargo tracking;
• Paperless cargo processing; and
• Artificial intelligence-enabled facilities for outbound cargo.