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Star Alliance, Air China and Beijing Capital Airport sign MoU
December 21st 2017
In a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed during the Star Alliance Chief Executive Board meeting in Beijing last week, Star Alliance, Air China and Beijing Capital International Airport (BCIA) agreed to maintain and expand BCIA’s status as the city’s leading hub and transfer airport, even after most of their airline rivals move to Beijing’s new airport in Daxing in 2019. Read More »
The three partners are committed to significantly enhance the passenger experience at BCIA, which could, at last, include passenger priority services, Star Alliance told Orient Aviation.
Under the MoU, the three parties will co-locate all Star Alliance carriers in the same airport terminal, allowing for optimised check-in and transfer processes, including the provision of automated initiatives such as off-airport check-in, fast bag drop and self-tagging.
“All aspects of what we consider the best possible customer experience will be considered as part of the project, which of course includes the provision of ‘Gold Track’. However, the exact details still need to be worked out,” the Frankfurt-headquartered airline alliance added.
There are 17 Star Alliance members with regular service to Beijing: Air Canada, Air China, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Austrian Airlines, EGYPTAIR, Ethiopian Airlines, EVA Air, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Shenzhen Airlines, Singapore Airlines, SWISS, Turkish Airlines, THAI and United Airlines. Together, they operate more than 740 flights a day, connecting Beijing with 177 destinations in 41 countries.
Mainland heavyweights, SkyTeam members China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines, have confirmed they will move to the new airport at Daxing. The two airlines would account for more than 80% of the traffic at the new airfield.
China Eastern will also bring its low-cost subsidiary, China United Airlines. Xiamen Airlines, a China Southern offshoot, also will go to Daxing. Xiamen’s management said it expected its subsidiary, Hebei Airlines, to base 40-50 aircraft at the new airport.
East Pacific Group is planning to build a Donghai Airlines hub in Daxing and has allocated 25 aircraft to Beijing as part of its "Beijing Strategy". Donghai has five B787-9s on order. Other carriers confirmed to move to the new airport are Beijing Capital Airlines, Spring Airlines and Okay Airways.
In the initial phase, the airport will accommodate 72 million passengers a year. It is expected that all oneworld and SkyTeam member carriers will move to Daxing with Star carriers to remain at BCIA.
