China Southern launches Beijing Daxing–Helsinki route as European carriers retreat

China Southern Airlines is set to launch a new nonstop service between Beijing Daxing International Airport and Helsinki-Vantaa, marking a strategic expansion into Northern Europe and filling a gap left by the gradual withdrawal of European carriers, notably Finnair, from the China–Europe market.

The route, China Southern’s first-ever service to Finland and the Nordic region, will begin on 29 March 2026 with three weekly flights, increasing to daily operations from 20 June. Flights will be operated with Boeing 787-9 aircraft, arriving in Helsinki at 18:35 and departing back to Beijing at 20:35. The service becomes Beijing Daxing Airport’s only nonstop connection to Europe’s Nordic region, reinforcing China Southern’s role as the airport’s anchor carrier.

The launch follows years of reduced European airline presence in mainland China. Finnair, once a leading Asia–Europe transfer airline, sharply scaled back its China network after 2020 and now operates only limited services to Shanghai, leaving Beijing without a direct Finnair connection. This retreat has created an opening for Chinese carriers to secure strategically important long-haul routes.

For passengers, the new service restores direct connectivity between Beijing and Helsinki after a five-year hiatus, offering seamless access to Northern Europe and onward connections across the continent via Helsinki’s hub, while also providing European travellers with extensive onward links from Beijing Daxing to destinations across China and Asia.

The route complements Helsinki Airport’s existing China services operated by Finnair and Juneyao Airlines to Shanghai and Zhengzhou, and underscores a broader shift in long-haul market dynamics as Chinese airlines expand internationally while some foreign carriers retrench.