Air China· Callsign CCA1501 ·Daily

CA1501 from Beijing to Shanghai, tracked live

One of the few domestic routes anywhere still seeing scheduled 747-8I service.

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Status on this page means observed ADS-B activity inside available receiver coverage. Confirm official delay, cancellation, gate and booking status with Air China.

PEK
Beijing
Beijing Capital International Airport
08:00 CST (UTC+8)
2h 15m
1,076 km · 668 mi
Non-stop
SHA
Shanghai
Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport
10:15 CST (UTC+8)
Typical schedule · next departure Friday, October 30 · times shown in airport local time
Aircraft
Boeing 747-8I
typical equipment
Distance
1,076 km
581 nautical miles
Heading
155°
tracks south-east
Clock change
0 h
same time zone
Block speed
478 km/h
gate to gate average
Range used
8%
of the type's book range
Length rank
#381
of 439 tracked routes

Follow CA1501 in real time

The aircraft appears below whenever it is airborne and inside receiver coverage. Its planned route is drawn between the two airports.

CA1501 is not transmitting right now. It may be between rotations, on the ground, or out of receiver range - Check back near 08:00 at PEK. The full map has the rest of the sky, and what is flying over me will name whatever is above you instead.

CA1501 at a glance

  • The trip: 1,076 km (668 miles) from Beijing to Shanghai, flying south-east.
  • How long: 2h 15m gate to gate. That is about 478 km/h on average, taxi time included.
  • Your watch: no change, both cities share a clock.
  • Window seat tip: either side works on this heading.
  • The plane: usually a Boeing 747-8I. This route uses about 8% of how far it can fly.
  • When it goes: out of PEK in early morning, into SHA in mid-morning.

CA1501 route overview: PEK to SHA

CA1501 distance and great-circle path

CA1501 covers 1,076 km, or 668 miles. That makes it a short-haul flight, a single-aisle hop where turnaround time matters more than range. Of the 439 routes we track, it ranks 381 by distance.

The plane leaves Beijing heading south-east. On the map above, the line looks curved. That is normal. The shortest path over a round planet never looks straight on a flat screen. Our guide explains how the PEK-SHA route appears on a tracker map.

Why CA1501 block time differs from cruise time

The schedule allows 2.2 hours from gate to gate. That works out to about 478 km/h. A Boeing 747-8I cruises faster than that. The gap is taxi time, climbing, descending and holding.

Winds aloft shift the real flight time by up to an hour in either direction. See what really moves flight times.

Can the Boeing 747-8I comfortably fly CA1501?

Not at all. At roughly 8% of its range, this is an easy trip for a Boeing 747-8I. The airline picked it for cabin size, not distance. The full numbers are on our aircraft page for the Boeing 747-8I.

What to know about CA1501

  • Time change: none. Both cities keep the same clock, so arrival time reads exactly as you expect.

CA1501 activity in the past 7 days

Our database contains 7 observations of CA1501 across 7 UTC dates in this window, most recently 2026-10-29. Those records contain 6 distinct transponder addresses.

The median recorded visibility was 34 minutes. That is time inside receiver coverage, not airborne duration or an on-time-performance measurement.

Date (UTC)RouteFirst trackedLast trackedTracked for
2026-10-29 tracked in flight 01:05 UTC 01:39 UTC 0h 34m
2026-10-28 tracked in flight 00:39 UTC 01:14 UTC 0h 35m
2026-10-27 tracked in flight 00:52 UTC 01:24 UTC 0h 32m
2026-10-26 tracked in flight 00:47 UTC 01:24 UTC 0h 37m
2026-10-24 tracked in flight 00:59 UTC 01:34 UTC 0h 35m
2026-10-23 tracked in flight 01:02 UTC 01:34 UTC 0h 33m
2026-10-22 tracked in flight 01:04 UTC 01:31 UTC 0h 27m

“First/last tracked” are when CA1501 entered and left receiver coverage, in UTC.

Airports and aircraft on CA1501

Every scheduled service we follow is listed in the tracker directory, including Air China and other tracked flights grouped by airline.

PEK Beijing Capital International Airport Beijing, China · live radar →
SHA Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport Shanghai, China · live radar →
B748 Boeing 747-8 Typical equipment · specs →

How much CO2 does CA1501 emit?

Worked from the great-circle distance and the fuel burn measured for Boeing 747-8, the aircraft normally flying this route. Carbon dioxide only - see the method below.

Distance flown1,076 km
AircraftBoeing 747-8
Fuel burn rate9.9 kg per km
Fuel burned10,653 kg
CO2, whole flight33.7 tonnes
Seats, typical layout410
Passengers carried340 at an 83% load factor
CO2 per passenger99 kg

Where that lands by cabin

The aircraft burns the same fuel whoever is aboard, so the cabins divide one total rather than each carrying their own. A seat's share is the floor it takes up, which is why an economy seat comes out below the 99 kg cabin average and a flat bed well above it.

Economy320 seats, 266 flown
67 kg CO2 per seat
Business70 seats, 58 flown
194 kg CO2 per seat
First20 seats, 17 flown
268 kg CO2 per seat

Taken whole, CA1501 emits what 561 trees take back out of the air in a year. One economy seat on it accounts for about the same carbon dioxide as driving a petrol car 582 km, or 2,829 km of the same journey by train.

How this is worked out. Fuel burn is read from published measurements of this type, taken at sectors of 5,556 km, 11,112 km and 13,334 km, all longer than this route, so the closest is held flat and the real figure is likely a little higher. It counts carbon dioxide only, and the cabin split assumes the layout typical of this size of aircraft. Read the full method, sources and caveats, or put CA1501 against another flight.

Other tracked flights from Beijing

FlightRouteTypical aircraft
CA889Beijing (PEK) → Singapore (SIN) Airbus A330-300CA889 flight tracker →
CX336Hong Kong (HKG) → Beijing (PEK) Airbus A330-300CX336 flight tracker →
CA109Beijing (PEK) → Hong Kong (HKG) Airbus A321CA109 flight tracker →
CA186Taipei (TPE) → Beijing (PEK) Airbus A330-300CA186 flight tracker →
KL897Amsterdam (AMS) → Beijing (PEK) Boeing 777-300ERKL897 flight tracker →
SU208Moscow (SVO) → Beijing (PEK) Airbus A330-300SU208 flight tracker →

Guides relevant to CA1501

Chosen from this route's distance, timing, aircraft, airline and airports.

How airlines plan routes This short-haul sector shows how aircraft size and local demand shape a network.
Boeing versus Airbus The typical aircraft is built by Boeing; these visual clues help identify it.
Airline alliances explained Air China belongs to Star Alliance, which affects connections and codeshares.

Data sources and review

Reviewed 2026-07-29 by Flight-Tracker.net Editorial Team

The route and typical schedule are maintained reference data. Live ADS-B observations are evidence of receiver coverage, not proof of on-time performance. Always confirm the operating date and times with the airline.

Read our schedule and observation review process, or inspect the machine-readable reference dataset.

Put CA1501 on your own site

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CA1501 frequently asked questions

How long is the CA1501 flight?

Beijing to Shanghai is 1,076 km (668 miles) in a straight line, scheduled at 2.2 hours gate to gate. Actual airborne time varies with winds, routing and holding.

What aircraft operates CA1501?

Typically a Boeing 747-8I (full specifications), using roughly 8% of that type's published range.

Does CA1501 fly every day?

The published pattern is daily, departing 08:00 local from PEK. Always confirm with the airline before travelling.

Can I track CA1501 live?

Yes. Whenever CA1501 is airborne and in receiver coverage the map above follows it live, with altitude, ground speed and heading. Between rotations, the seven-day log above shows where it has been.

More Air China flights to watch

FlightRouteTypical aircraft
CA889 Beijing (PEK) → Singapore (SIN) Airbus A330-300 CA889 flight tracker →
CA109 Beijing (PEK) → Hong Kong (HKG) Airbus A321 CA109 flight tracker →
CA186 Taipei (TPE) → Beijing (PEK) Airbus A330-300 CA186 flight tracker →
CA981 Beijing (PEK) → New York (JFK) Boeing 777-300ER CA981 flight tracker →
CA937 Beijing (PEK) → London (LHR) Boeing 787-9 CA937 flight tracker →
CA125 Beijing (PEK) → Hong Kong (HKG) Airbus A330-300 CA125 flight tracker →
CA173 Beijing (PEK) → Sydney (SYD) Airbus A350-900 CA173 flight tracker →