Beijing Airport Departures (PEK)

Flight Departures at Beijing Airport

Departures at Beijing Capital International Airport have a huge number of onward flight connections at hand. Asia's busiest airport is also the second largest in the world, which is reflected in the 120 destinations offered by flagship carrier Air China alone. The airport currently handles some 78 million passengers a year.

The airport is located in the Shunyi District of Beijing, about 15.5 miles or 25 km northeast of Tiananmen Square, and there are four access toll roads that lead from the city and surrounding suburbs to the airport.

Beijing's high standard of services and the amazing facilities at the three terminals have attracted 66 airlines to date, offering flight connections to 88 domestic and 69 foreign destinations.

From Beijing passengers for departures at Beijing Airport have direct access to the airport via Beijing Subway, which takes them from central Beijing to Terminals 2 and 3, stopping only at Sanyuanqiao and Dongzhimen en route. The journey takes just 16 to 20 minutes.

There are also nine different shuttle bus routes from various points in Beijing, including Fangzhuang, Zhongguancun and Nanyuan Airport, which connect directly to Beijing Capital International Airport.

Airport Shuttle buses also connect downtown Beijing districts like Beijing Railway Station, West Railway Station and Xidan with the airport.

Inter-city bus links include five bus lines operating from nearby Tianjin and Qinhuangdao City, Tanggu and Langfang City, Boading, Qinhuangdao and Tangshan Cities to the airport in Beijing.

The airport offers several thousand car parking spaces for 24 hour parking. Terminal 3 alone boasts 7,000 spaces and Beijing Airport departures can leave their car in the T3 parking facility and use a convenient walkway that takes them straight from the car park into the terminal building.

A taxi journey from central Beijing destinations takes approximately 45 to 60 minutes depending on traffic conditions. The fares will average between CNY 100 to 200 including any tolls, payable for any of the four toll roads surrounding airport.

There are designated taxi stops at the airport and an Airport Taxi Dispatch Management Number: (010)64541100, where passengers can ask for assistance. At Terminal 1 taxis stop outside Gate 1 to 5 on level F1, at Terminal 2 taxis stop outside Gate 5 to 9 on level F1 and at Terminal 3 passengers will be dropped off at the transportation center.

The minimum metered fare is RMB 10 covering the first 3 km of the journey. The remained will be charged at RMB 2 per km traveled.

For journeys exceeding 15 km a charge of 50% is added to the total fare as an allowance for the driver's return trip. For journeys at 12 km per hour or less the meter will add an additional 1 km charge every 5 minutes of the journey.

Terminals 1 and 2 are linked by a walkway which takes only 5 minutes on foot. Beijing Airport departures for flights with Beijing-Shanghai Air Express, Capital Airlines, Grand China Airlines Domestic, Hainan Airlines Domestic and Tianjin Airlines need to go to Terminal 1.

Free shuttle buses that link all three terminals leave every 7 to 10 minutes and take around 15 minutes to complete their journey.

Departures at Beijing Airport leaving on domestic flights have a plethora of carriers to choose from at Terminal 2, although many domestic flights are now also handled by Terminal 3 and Air China. Terminal 2 also offers international flights with some 30 well-known carriers.

Air China is just one of many flag-ship carriers using Terminal 3 for domestic and international flights. Departure passengers can also choose from Air France, British Airways, Aeroflot, American Airlines and Alitalia, Austrian Airlines and Turkish Airlines to name but a fraction of the many carriers offering flights. Terminal 3 offers some 292 check-in desks as well as state of the art self-check-in facilities.

Departures at Beijing Capital International Airport requiring an early start may be better off staying at one of the three closest hotels: Olympic Airport Hotel, Best Western Grandsky Hotel and Hilton Capital Airport Hotel.