Beijing Airport Transfer Guide: Capital (PEK) & Daxing (PKX), from a Corporate View

City Guide2026-10-25·All articles

Beijing has two international airports roughly 85 kilometres apart. Misjudging which one your guest lands at — or how long the cross-city run takes — is the single most common cause of a missed meeting. This guide gives the facts as they stand in late 2026.

Airport overview

Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK)

Opened for civil aviation in 1958 at the edge of Chaoyang and Shunyi districts, about 25 km northeast of the center. Three runways; T2 and T3 handle all flights, with the former T1 now working as a satellite boarding hall of T2. Around 70.7 million passengers in 2025. Air China’s primary hub and Beijing’s established international gateway — best for the north and east of the city.

Official site: www.bcia.com.cn

Beijing Daxing International Airport (PKX)

Opened in September 2019 on the Beijing–Hebei border, about 46 km south of the center. Four runways and a single 700,000 m² “starfish” terminal; over 50 million passengers in 2025. Base carriers include China Eastern, China Southern, Xiamen Air and China United; the newer, faster-to-navigate airport serving the south of the city and Xiong’an.

Official site: www.bdia.com.cn

Terminals and airlines

Airport / terminal	Main carriers (late 2026)
Capital Airport (PEK) T3	Air China and its subsidiaries (Shenzhen, Shandong Airlines), Sichuan Airlines, plus most Star Alliance international flights
Capital Airport (PEK) T2	Hainan Airlines group and other domestic carriers, plus many non-Star-Alliance international airlines
Capital Airport (PEK) T1	No separate check-in — satellite boarding hall of T2; arrivals exit via T2
Daxing Airport (PKX)	China Eastern, China Southern, Xiamen Air and China United as base carriers; Juneyao, Capital and Hebei Airlines fly here exclusively; Air France, KLM and others have moved from Capital

Terminal assignments shift with seasons — always confirm against the ticket or the airport’s official site before dispatching a car.

Local notes: how to choose

By destination: north/east of the city (CBD, Chaoyang, Haidian) → Capital; south of the city, or onward to Xiong’an and Langfang → Daxing.
By airline base: Air China group flies from Capital T3; China Eastern, China Southern, Xiamen Air and China United mostly from Daxing.
Late arrivals: the Daxing metro winds down early — after 22:30, arrange a car in advance rather than relying on public transport from either airport.

Realistic drive times (corporate car, door to door)

Route	Distance	Off-peak	Rush hours*
Capital Airport T3 → China World / CBD	~25 km	30–40 min	50–70 min
Capital Airport T2 → Financial Street	~20 km	30 min	45–60 min
Daxing Airport → CBD	~50 km	50–60 min	70–90 min
Daxing Airport → Zhongguancun / Haidian	~65 km	70–80 min	90–120 min

* Weekday 07:00–09:30 and 16:30–19:30; the airport expressways and the 3rd Ring Road are the pinch points. During these windows we add buffer time as standard rather than as an exception.

What a corporate transfer includes

Active flight tracking — the driver waits to the actual landing time, not the schedule.
Meet-and-greet inside the arrivals hall with a name board; no wandering curbside with luggage.
No waiting limit — the driver stays until the guest is in the car.
One contact for the whole trip, in Chinese and English, 7×24.

Business travellers are increasingly landing at one Beijing airport and departing from the other. A single booking can cover mixed legs — arrival transfer, city days, intercity segment, and the departure to whichever airport is right — with one agreement and one report at the end.