Beijing Capital Airlines

Not to be confused with Beijing Airlines, a charter subsidiary of Air China.

Beijing Capital Airlines (Chinese: 首都航空; pinyin: Shǒudū Hángkōng), commonly known as Capital Airlines, is a Chinese low-cost airline based at Beijing Daxing International Airport. It is a subsidiary of Hainan Airlines.

Beijing Capital Airlines

IATA ICAO Call sign JD CBJ CAPITAL JET
Founded	1995; 30 years ago (1995) (as Deer Jet Airlines)
Hubs	Beijing-Daxing
Secondary hubs	Hangzhou
Focus cities	Qingdao
Frequent-flyer program	Fortune Wings Club
Fleet size	81
Destinations	75[1]
Parent company	HNA Aviation (70%)
Website	www.jdair.net

History

Deer Jet logo

The company was established in 1995 as Deer Jet Airlines (Chinese: 金鹿航空; pinyin: Jīnlù Hángkōng). In 1998, it began offering international services under the Deer Air branding. In October 2007, it received its first Airbus A319 and began returning the formerly operated Boeing 737s. Deer Jet began providing charter services in December 2008 using a fleet of A319s and corporate jets. The airline was authorized by the Civil Aviation Administration of China to operate scheduled air services in 2009.

Daxing base of Capital Airlines

On 2 April 2010, Beijing Capital Airlines CO., LTD. launched its first service, based at Beijing Capital International Airport.^[2] Deer Jet Airlines was divided into two companies on 4 May 2010. While the charter operation has kept the Deer Jet branding, scheduled operations using Airbus aircraft were renamed Beijing Capital Airlines. Beijing Capital Airlines operates mainly in China including the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions and Taiwan, focusing on international air passenger service and cargo transport operations.^[3][4][5]

Destinations

Hainan Airlines facility in Beijing, which has the Capital Airlines headquarters

Since 2015, long-haul flights between China and other cities have been operated by Beijing Capital Airlines, with their first A330 delivered on 11 July 2015.^[6] In July 2016, Beijing Capital Airline announced its first launch, an Australian flight from Qingdao to Melbourne on 30 September, served by an Airbus A330 jet.^[7] In November 2016, Beijing Capital Airlines announced the launch of a Hangzhou-Qingdao-Vancouver service on 30 December 2016, which is served by an Airbus A330 aircraft.^[8]

Beijing Capital Airlines launched twice a week Beijing-Xian-Lisbon service starting from 30 August 2019.^[9] In September 2019, Beijing Capital Airlines announced that it would be moving some flights from Beijing Capital Airport to the newly opened Beijing Daxing Airport from 27 October 2019.

As of European destinations Airlines serves Moscow - Sherematyevo (Russia) route.^[10]

Codeshare agreements

Beijing Capital Airlines have Codeshare agreements with the following airlines:

• Hainan Airlines^[11]
• TAP Air Portugal^[12]

Interline agreements

• APG Airlines^[13]
• Hahn Air^[14]

Fleet

Current fleet

A Deer Air Airbus A319CJ at Toulouse–Blagnac Airport in 2012

A Beijing Capital Airlines Airbus A320-200 in 2023

A Beijing Capital Airlines Airbus A330-200 at Melbourne Airport, Australia in 2018

As of May 2025^[update], Beijing Capital Airlines operates an all-Airbus fleet composed of the following aircraft:^[15]

Beijing Capital Airlines fleet

Aircraft	In service	Orders	Passengers			Notes
			C	Y	Total
Airbus A319-100	10	—	—	138	138
Airbus A320-200	34	—	—	174	174
Airbus A320neo	7	—	—	180	180
Airbus A321-200	15	—	—	212	212
Airbus A321neo	3	—	—	234	234
Airbus A330-200	6	—	36	186	222
Airbus A330-300	6	—	18	288	306
Total	81	—

Former fleet

Beijing Capital Airlines has previously operated the following aircraft:

• Boeing 737-300^{[citation needed]}
• Boeing 737-700^{[citation needed]}
• 6 Airbus A319-100^{[citation needed]}