The new Beijing Daxing International Airport (IATA: PKXI, CAO: ZBAD) (CN: 北京大兴国际机场) is located approx 45km south of the city center in the Daxing District of Beijing. It is the city’s second international airport alongside Beijing Capital International Airport. It is expected to become the world’s busiest airport featuring 4 runways and a gargantuan 700,000 square meter terminal area. Expectations are that the airport will handle 100 million passengers each year by 2040. During China’s National Day Holiday of 2024 (Oct 1-7), the airport will handle over 1 million passengers and 6,400 flights.
About Beijing Daxing International Airport
Don’t be intimidated by the size of the airport, it’s actually very easy and intuitive to navigate. If arriving at the airport, once you disembark the plane, it’s straight onto Quarantine then pass through Immigration after which you board the APM (Automated People Mover) which scoots you along to the Baggage Claim area. After which you pass out through Customs and immediately have options for train, bus, and taxi to get you to your final destination.
Floor Guide
- International Departure: 4F
- Domestic Departure: 3F
- Domestic Arrival: 2F
- International Arrival: 1F
- Transportation Center: B1 & B2
Getting to/from the airport
The airport is located 46 km from Beijing Central eg. Tiananmen Square, 67 km from the original Beijing Capital Airport, and 85 km from Tianjin Binhai Airport. You have the option of taxi, airport shuttle bus, express train, and even intercity trains and buses.
Beijing Daxing Airport Shuttle Bus
The shuttle bus has 8 routes but the Beijing Railway Station Line will likely interest you the most as it goes to the central area of Beijing. The bus is quite cheap, between 20-30 RMB. It leaves when full or about every 20 minutes. To go from the airport to the city center, the bus takes around 70-80 minutes. More info and route information for the Daxing Airport Bus
Route maps – click for a larger image
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- Daxing Airport to City
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- City to Daxing Airport
Beijing Daxing Airport Express Train
It operates from around 5.40 to 22.30 and trains depart around every 10 mins from 5:41-22:30 and every 15 minutes from 22:30-23:00. The fare is 35 RMB to Caoqiao Station and 25 RMB to Daxing New Town Station. It takes around 19 minutes to go from the airport to the city center.
From the domestic or international terminal, it heads directly to the city center stopping at
- Daxing New Town Station
- Caoqiao Station – where you can connect to Metro Line 10 and Line 19.
Intercity Train
If you are heading beyond Beijing, there is also a train hub, you can catch these lines
- Beijing-Xiong’an Intercity Railway: Beijingxi Railway Station, Beijing Daxing Station, Daxing Airport Station, Gu’andong Railway Station, Bazhoubei Railway Station, Xiong’an Railway Station
- Tianjin-Daxing Airport Intercity Railway: Daxing Airport Station, Gu’andong Railway Station, Yongqingdong Railway Station, Anci Railway Station, Shengfang Railway Station, Tianjinxi Railway Station, Tianjin Railway Station, Tangshan Railway Station
See more info about the Beijing Daxing Airport Express
Hotels at Daxing Airport
The airport will feature over 800 rooms at its onsite hotels. The first hotel to open inside the airport is Aerotel Beijing which is a pay-by-the-hour. There are also nearby offsite hotels in Daxing (15 mins by taxi) such as JI Hotel Beijing Daxing Airport or in nearby Langfun (25 mins by taxi) with the pick being the Four Points by Sheraton. See more about hotels at Daxin Airport.
Airport Lounges
The airport will be a hub for SkyTeam alliance airlines and some Oneworld member airlines offer lounges for its business and first-class passengers. Travelers can also use the pay-by-the-hour Aerotel hotel located inside the airport. If your flight ticket doesn’t offer you entry to the lounges below, you can also pay at the door or book via Plaza Premium in most cases.
- Plaza Premium has one public-access lounge: Library Lounge by Aerotel Beijing (Northeast Pier Airport Terminal)
- China Southern Airlines has four lounges spread across domestic and international terminals (run by Plaza Premium)
- China Eastern offers three lounges for its customers across domestic and international terminals
- Chum VIP Lounge is located airside of the Domestic Departures Hall
Facilities at Beijing Daxing Airport
- WiFi: The airport will feature free WiFi coverage throughout, you can easily log in using your Chinese mobile number or show your passport at a service desk to receive login details.
- Mobile Coverage: All major mainland mobile carriers are supported at the airport with 4G and 5G coverage. Sim cards are available for sale onsite.
- Chinese Garden: covers an area of about 2,000 square meters and is located at the end of the international passenger arrival at the south-central corridor. The park has pavilions and pavilions, which showcase the characteristics of traditional Chinese architecture and aim to show the world the charm of traditional Chinese culture.
- Landside features: featuring childcare and nursery, planned interactive pet hotels, hybrid online retail, dining places, gym, spa, swimming pool, cinemas, and showrooms. Artworks and digital artworks feature prominently.
- Left luggage: There will be several left luggage and baggage storage services.
- Showers and change rooms: The public access toilet and bathroom facilities are comprehensive, and you can also utilize the pay-by-the-hour Aerotel hotel, and various lounges.
- Comprehensive Service Building: This building will be divided into two parts. The northern part will be for hotels while the southern one which will be close to the terminal is for business and office.
- Currency Exchange: There are full-service banks in the airport and currency exchange services from leading international brands. There are also ATM’s that can offer multiple currencies.
- Signage: All signage in the airport is at minimum dual language Chinese/English with all customer service staff having English skills.
Food Options
The airport has an endless array of eateries including well-known Western and local fast-food brands. A welcomed addition is the airport policy of “same price and same quality as the city”.
- Starbucks has a staggering 10 stores in the airport! Along with that, there are the usual fast food options inc. McDonald’s, KFC, Kungfu, Costa Coffee, Pizza Hut, Ajisen Ramen, and numerous local brands. Other cafes and restaurants include Blue Frog Bar & Grill (North American), Vege Tiger (vegetarian), Chee Kei (Asian noodle), Taoyuan Village (Chinese), Element Fresh (local brand), Hungry Korean (Korean), Laoshe Teahouse (Chinese), Hey Tea, and Saboten (Japanese).
Shopping
- Retail: There is a host of luxury brand names at the airport including a large Louis Vuitton store in the domestic terminal.
- Duty Free: in the International terminal you’ll find China Duty Free Group and Lagardère Travel Retail.
Beijing Daxing International Airport Gallery
From construction to completion
Beijing Daxing Airport Map
Daxing, Beijing, China
Visa on Arrival and TWOV at Daxing Airport
Foreigners from select countries can get TWOV (Transit Without Visa) at the airport on arrival. This offers 144hrs free travel in Beijing, Hebei, and Tianjin.
Arrival Times for Departing Flights
- You should arrive at the airport around 2-3.5 hours before flight time
- Check-in closes (before take-off): Domestic Flight – 45 mins. International – 75 minutes
- Close Time for Boarding: 20 minutes before take-off
- Flight transfer times (est): Domestic to domestic – 30mins. Domestic to international – 60 mins. International to international: 45mins
Airport Layover Tours
Beijing Daxing Airport layover tours – depending on your time between flights. If more than 5 hours you may consider a small tour of the city highlights such as Temple of Heaven, Tiananmen Square, and Jingshan Park where you can look over the Forbidden City. Longer layover times would allow for
- Forbidden City & Tiananmen Square – layover time of 7+ hours
- Badaling section of the Great Wall – layover time of 9-10 hours
- Mutianyu Great Wall – layover time of 9-10 hours
- Huanghuacheng Great Wall – layover time of 9-10 hours
- Night Tour – inc. sights such as the National Performance Centre, CBD, Wangfujing St, and Houhai Lake
- City Highlights – Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, Temple of Heaven and Summer Palace
Beijing Daxing International Airport facts
Beijing Daxing International Airport has a total investment of about 80 billion yuan. It will feature 4 runways and 700,000 square meters of terminals. The main building and the gallery are meeting the needs of 72 million and 45 million people respectively.
President Xi Jingping opened Beijing Daxing International Airport on the 25th of September 2019 and saw its first commercial flight on the 26th of September 2019. The new airport terminal parking building project is China’s first energy-efficient building 3A project.
- Address: Lixian Town, Yu Town, and Langfang Town of Daxing District, Beijing
- Chinese Name: 北京大兴国际机场 Běijīng dàxīng guójì jīchǎng
- Nickname: Starfish
- Project cost: 120 billion RMB ($17.5 billion USD), or 400 billion ($55.6 billion USD) including rail and road links
- Terminal Designer: the late Zaha Hadid and her British firm along with the French ADPI
- Master Plan: Netherlands Airport Consultants (NACO)
- Capacity: 45 million passengers by 2021, 72 million by 2025 and 100 million by 2040
- Airport ground size: 47 square km (18 square miles)
- Airport terminal size: 695,000 square meters (7.5 million square feet)
- Single terminal design
- 46 km from Beijing central eg. Tiananmen Square
- 67 km from Beijing Capital Airport
- 85 km from Tianjin Binhai Airport
Interesting Facts and Features
- The airport features a central transport hub including high-speed rail, intercity trains, and subway.
- Minimal walking distances – The distance between the transport hub and the airport terminal center is less than 600m or 8 mins walk thanks to the starfish design
- Speed of baggage delivery – the aim is for the first luggage item to appear on the carousel within 13 minutes of landing
- Superfast transfer times between arrival to boarding/departure
Hi-tech features of BJ-Daxing Airport
- It is a 3A energy-efficient building featuring a solar farm, geothermal power station, hi-tech glazing that reduces energy needs for lighting and cooling, advanced controllable LED lighting
- Baggage can be tracked by a mobile app throughout the airport (available with certain airlines)
- Facial recognition systems used throughout the airport
- Robot assistants are used by some airlines to help with check-in
- Paperless customs – no need for boarding passes
- VIP customer assistants with augmented reality glasses to identify VIP and more efficiently cater to their needs