Beijing Daxing International Airport

China Eastern (MU) + China Southern (CZ) are the two main carriers — they split PKX between them as their Beijing hub. Foreign carriers at PKX include British Airways, Finnair, Royal Brunei. Most international carriers + Air China still operate from PEK (Beijing Capital). Always check airport code on your ticket — PEK and PKX are different airports 70 km apart.

PKX is newer (opened 2019), larger (designed for 100M+ pax/year), further from central Beijing (46 km vs PEK's 32 km), and serves China Eastern + China Southern + select foreign carriers (BA, Finnair). PEK is older (1958), closer to centre, serves Air China + most foreign carriers. The two airports are 70 km apart with no direct rail — allow 90-120 min via shuttle bus between them.

Daxing Airport Express — CNY 35, 19 min direct to Caoqiao (Beijing Subway transfer). Best option. The express train runs at 350 km/h. Beijing-Xiongan HSR — CNY 30, 28 min to Beijing West Station. Subway Line 19 is cheaper but slow (60+ min, multiple transfers). Taxi CNY 200-280. DiDi CNY 180-260.

Maximum 8 minutes from check-in to any gate — by design. Zaha Hadid's starfish layout puts security at the centre with 5 piers radiating outward. No moving walkways needed (though they exist at far points). Compared to Beijing Capital T3 where you can walk 25-30 minutes to a far gate, PKX is dramatically faster.

Yes — Beijing's 144-Hour Transit Without Visa scheme applies at PKX too. Travellers from 50+ countries can enter visa-free for 144 hours. Take the Daxing Airport Express to Caoqiao (19 min), then subway to Tiananmen. Allow 6+ hours round trip due to the longer distance from city. Tiananmen + Forbidden City are far from PKX (46 km vs 30 km from PEK).

International: 3 hours. Domestic: 2 hours. PKX security is fast (15-25 min typical) thanks to the unified central hall design. China Eastern Business + Sky Pearl elites get expedited lanes. Live wait times at bdia.com.cn.