Air China inaugurates Beijing Daxing – Milan daily service, opening the airport’s first nonstop link to Italy

Air China’s Airbus A330-300 CA 749 lifted off from Beijing Daxing International Airport at 13:00 on 13 June, marking the official launch of a daily nonstop service to Milan-Malpensa. The new route is Daxing’s first scheduled connection to Italy and one of only a handful of long-haul European services operating from Beijing’s southern gateway. It comes as Chinese airlines race to rebuild intercontinental capacity after the pandemic and as outbound leisure and business demand from China rebounds in the summer peak. The flight cuts end-to-end journey times between the Chinese capital and Italy’s financial centre by at least three hours compared with most one-stop itineraries and removes the need for cross-town transfers between Beijing’s Capital and Daxing airports. Passengers purchasing through-tickets can now check bags through to Milan from 20 mainland and Hong Kong feeder cities and receive boarding passes for all sectors at their origin airport, thanks to the “single-check-in, baggage-through” cooperation between Air China and Daxing Airport.



Whether you’re connecting from one of those feeder cities or originating in Lombardy, VisaHQ can simplify any remaining paperwork. Its user-friendly portal (https://www.visahq.com/china/) offers real-time entry guidance, digital visa applications and courier services for both Chinese and Italian travel documents, ensuring passengers secure the right permits well before departure.

For corporate travellers, the daily frequency provides scheduling flexibility that had been missing on the China–Italy corridor since 2020. Italian luxury-goods exporters, automotive suppliers and engineering firms with facilities in China had lobbied for more direct lift to support face-to-face project work. Milan’s local authorities, for their part, expect the service to stimulate high-spending Chinese tourism ahead of the 2026 Winter Olympics in northern Italy. The opening continues Daxing’s aggressive international push: the airport now boasts more than 40 overseas destinations and is preparing launches to Lisbon and Bali later this year. From a policy angle, the route dovetails with Beijing’s ongoing unilateral 15- and 30-day visa waivers for 50 countries, including Italy, which were extended to 31 December 2026. The liberalised visa regime, coupled with new nonstop capacity, is intended to restore China’s position as a hub for Europe-Asia traffic and to encourage European SMEs to explore the mainland market. Travel managers should note that—at least initially—Air China is using wide-body aircraft with a three-cabin configuration (business, premium economy and economy) but no first class. Corporate negotiated fares are available through the carrier’s existing China-Europe corporate programme. Travellers transiting through Daxing must still clear a routine temperature scan and facial-recognition exit check but no longer need to complete on-arrival health declarations introduced during the pandemic.