Singapore Airlines has announced plans to fly between Singapore and Beijing Daxing International Airport (PKX), with services to commence on 11 November 2024. The service will operate daily from that date, utilising the 787-10. The new service to Daxing will complement the existing services to Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK). Prior to the Daxing launch, SIA will increase service to Beijing Capital from the current 18 times-weekly to 21 weekly, or 3 times daily, starting 5 August 2024. That increase combined with the Daxing service will take SIA’s operations to China’s capital city up to a total of 28 weekly.
The details
The new Singapore-Daxing and Daxing-Singapore flights will be numbered SQ810 and SQ811 respectively. SQ810 departs Singapore at 12.30am, arriving into Daxing at 6.35am later the same morning, for a block time of 6h5min. On the return, SQ811 is wheels up from Daxing at 9.25am, touching down in Singapore at 3.50pm that afternoon, for a block time of 6h25min.
Interestingly, SIA’s schedule for the Daxing service seems to indicate a temporary 2-week pause from 6 to 18 January 2025 (both dates inclusive). While that is typically a quiet time for global travel, it’s surprising to pause a new route so soon, even if only for 2 weeks.
The new Daxing service will be operated by the 787-10. SIA’s 787-10s are in a 2-class configuration, consisting of 36 Business Class seats and 301 Economy, for a total capacity of 337 passengers. The Business Class product on offer is the 2018 regional business seat which debuted on the 787-10. This is the Stelia Symphony product that should be familiar to many SIA frequent flyers by now.
I don’t know enough about Beijing to comment on the convenience of Beijing Capital vs Daxing airports, nor the quality of the passenger experience. My last trip to Beijing was in December 2020 out of Beijing Capital obviously, although to be honest I only have vague memories of the experience. I’ve booked myself on the Daxing-Singapore inaugural, which I’m looking forward to. It’ll be my 3rd Singapore Airlines route inaugural this year, following on from the Brussels and Gatwick route launches. The Brussels launch was good fun, while Gatwick was extremely disappointing (more on that in another post), so hoping this launch will be more like Brussels than Gatwick. This trip will be my first experience of Daxing Airport, and trying to navigate my way to and around the airport.
Conclusion
Singapore Airlines will commence services to Beijing Daxing International Airport from 11 November 2024, using the 787-10. The daily service will be in addition the existing 18 – soon to be 21 – weekly services to Beijing Capital International Airport. Total SIA operations to China’s capital city will be 28 weekly once the Daxing service launches. I’ll be on the inaugural flight from Daxing, which will give me an opportunity to check out Daxing Airport as well.