China Southern Airlines announced it will resume direct flights between Beijing Daxing International Airport (PKX) and Helsinki Airport (HEL) at the end of March 2026. The move restores a route that was removed five years ago amid pandemic disruptions and subsequent airspace complications.
The carrier will begin operating three weekly Boeing 787-9 services from Beijing to Helsinki starting March 29, 2026, with departures scheduled for Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays. By June 20, 2026, the frequency will increase to daily rotations as demand builds through the summer travel season.
Flight CZ609 will depart Beijing at 14:20 local time, arriving in Helsinki at 18:35 local time. The return service leaves Helsinki at 20:35 local time, touching down in Beijing the following morning.
Flight time runs just over nine hours, making it one of the more efficient connections between northern China and Scandinavia.
Daxing’s first European gateway
The route marks a significant milestone for Beijing Daxing.The mega-airport opened in 2019 but has since struggled to attract long-haul international traffic. According to Finnish airport operator Finavia, Helsinki is Daxing’s first nonstop destination in Northern Europe and its inaugural direct link to any European city.
China Southern serves as the anchor tenant at Daxing and has been gradually expanding the airport’s international footprint. The carrier already connects Daxing to Paris, Madrid, Amsterdam, Rome, Frankfurt, London, Luxembourg, and Istanbul, but the Helsinki addition fills a geographic gap in its European network.
“We are pleased to see this highly demanded Beijing route reopened after a five-year break,” said Petri Vuori, Senior Vice President for route development at Finavia. “This flight will mark the first time China Southern Airlines is operating to Helsinki Airport and to the Nordics.”
Filling a connectivity void
The timing of the route launch reflects broader shifts in Nordic-Asian aviation. Finnair, traditionally the dominant player on Finland-China routes, drastically reduced its mainland China network after suspending services in March 2020. The Finnish flag carrier currently operates just two weekly winter flights to Shanghai, a fraction of its pre-pandemic schedule, largely due to routing challenges caused by closed Russian airspace.
This has left Helsinki with limited options for travelers heading to northern and central China. Juneyao Airlines currently offers flights to Shanghai and Zhengzhou, but China Southern’s entry provides the only direct access to Beijing from the Finnish capital.
For passengers, the new service opens extensive connectivity in both directions. From Beijing Daxing, travelers can connect to dozens of domestic Chinese cities as well as regional hubs across Asia, including Seoul, Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Dhaka. Helsinki, meanwhile, serves as a compact transfer point for onward connections throughout Scandinavia, the Baltics, and Western Europe.
Commercial and cargo implications
Beyond tourism, the route is expected to benefit Finland’s export-oriented economy. The country’s technology, forestry, and clean-energy sectors rely heavily on air cargo for time-sensitive shipments to Asia, and direct service to Beijing provides same-day access to northern China’s industrial heartland.
China Southern’s widebody 787-9 offers belly-hold cargo capacity that could prove valuable for Finnish exporters looking to bypass congested European hubs. The aircraft typically seats around 290 passengers in a three-class configuration and can carry up to 15 tons of cargo, depending on fuel load and route requirements.
The resumption also signals growing confidence in travel demand between the two countries. Chinese leisure travelers have historically shown strong interest in Lapland’s winter tourism offerings, while business traffic flows in both directions as Finnish companies maintain operations in China and Chinese firms invest in Nordic clean technology.