Beijing’s New 600km Restricted Area

China has introduced a huge 600km-wide Special Restricted Area around Beijing from Sep 20, following a light aircraft crash into the CITIC Tower in June. It’s called ZB(SR)801, and the only flights allowed in are commercial, business and certain government/emergency flights.

There was already a small Beijing Prohibited Area (ZB(P)801) around the city – that’s still there. The new area basically wraps around it, extending 300km from the centre of Beijing.

The new rules are fairly simple: stick to your flight plan, stay in continuous contact with ATC and report your security status before entering – aircraft ID, SSR code, position and whether everything is normal.

So here’s what all of that looks like! ⬇️

OPSGROUP members click here for hi-res PDF.

The rules

So for flights allowed into this big new ZB(SR)801 area, a few rules:

Keep your SSR transponder or equivalent surveillance equipment switched on throughout the flight.
Maintain continuous two-way communication with ATC.
Report your security status before entering the area (aircraft ident, SSR code, current position and confirmation that the “security situation is normal”)
Stick to your approved flight plan. Any deviation has to be reported to ATC and approved before you make it.
If operating at or below 3,000m, keep IAS at or below 450 km/h.

All of this comes from ZBPE Notam A4484/26, so check that if in doubt.

Where to make the report?

The tedious bit that needs a bit of checking for your particular route. ZBPE Notam A4646/26 is the one to check – it lists the reporting point to use when entering the restricted area on each airway. But here’s a copy, in case they incorporate the Notam into the AIP and no one can ever find it again:

Airway	Report at waypoint
B334	TGO
W31	CHG
G212 via TGO	TGO
G212 via BESGI	BESGI
A575 via CHG	CHG
A575 via VANVO	VANVO
G332	CHG
W35	CHG
W201	ORAVA
W576 joining W55	ORAVA
W200	DOVIV
W4	DYN
W569	YQG
W56	ORODO
W62	ORODO
W277	OMBIM
W69	BAXOD
W64	NUTLO
W65	TMR
B458	TMR
W86	TMR
B339	ERVEB
W33	NUVPU
W52	NUVPU
W157	DALIM
W160	YQG

There’s also a separate procedure for aircraft departing ZSJN/Jinan, ZBYN/Taiyuan or ZBHH/Hohhot and entering the area: report your security status to the airport tower before departure.

And the existing little prohibited area around Beijing?

That’s still there. It’s called ZB(P)801 (the little yellow square on our map). It’s GND-UNL, H24, and all flights are banned from entering.

Just one more thing: crews are being tested??

We’ve also been sent something rather unusual from a couple of members operating into ZBAA/Beijing.

It’s a “Special Inspection Checklist – Knowledge check on CAAC NOTAM C0903/26 – Special Restricted Area ZB(SR)801.” It’s basically a three-question multiple-choice test covering the new area, followed by an inspector’s answer key.

The questions cover whether commercial flights need additional approval (answer: no, you just need to follow the rules as per the above), whether ZB(SR)801 replaces the existing Beijing Prohibited Area (answer: no, the existing area is the tiny yellow square over Beijing itself, this new area is the massive 600km one), and what needs to be included in the security status report (answer: as per the rules above!).

The doc we’ve seen is dated Oct 1, 2026. We’ve asked around and haven’t found confirmation that this is happening routinely, so for now we’d treat it as something to be aware of rather than a standard requirement for every flight. But let us know if you know different!