Departure
97%
vs 95% ▲ 1
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Beijing Daxing International Airport (ZBAD/PKX) is one of two international airports serving the Chinese capital, opened in September 2019 as a purpose-built hub to relieve pressure on the older Beijing Capital International Airport. Straddling the boundary between Beijing's Daxing District and Langfang in Hebei Province, it is among the largest airports in the world, with four long hard-surfaced runways beneath a vast Zaha Hadid-designed terminal. For a simulator pilot it offers a striking approach into one of the busiest and most modern air transport hubs in Asia.
Beijing Daxing International Airport, known by its ICAO code ZBAD and IATA code PKX, opened on 26 September 2019 as the second major international gateway for Beijing, alongside the older Beijing Capital International Airport. It was built to relieve congestion at Capital and to serve the wider Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. The airport is instantly recognisable from the air by its enormous starfish-shaped terminal, designed by the architect Zaha Hadid, which is one of the largest single terminal buildings in the world. It is a hub for SkyTeam alliance carriers, with some Oneworld members also operating from the field, making it a busy and visually distinctive destination for anyone flying a heavy-jet route into the Beijing area in the simulator.
The airport sits on the border between Beijing and Langfang in Hebei Province, in the southern suburbs of the capital, between Yufa Town and Lixian Town in Daxing District on the Beijing side and the Guangyang District of Langfang on the Hebei side. It lies roughly 46 kilometres (29 miles) south of Tiananmen Square in central Beijing, about 26 kilometres (16 miles) west of Langfang city centre, and approximately 65 to 67 kilometres (40 to 42 miles) south of Beijing Capital International Airport. The former Beijing Nanyuan Airport, which lay closer to the city, closed once Daxing began operations, leaving Daxing and Capital as the two international aviation hubs for Beijing.
Daxing has four physical runways, all with a hard surface and lit. The northwest-southeast pair, runway 17L/35R, is 12,400 to 12,410 feet long; its parallel partner, runway 17R/35L, is also 12,400 to 12,410 feet long. A third runway, 11L/29R, runs 12,363 to 12,400 feet, while the shortest of the four, runway 01L/19R, measures 11,088 to 11,097 feet. Field elevation is 82 feet, with the airport reference point at approximately 39.5 North, 116.4 East. No ILS is recorded for the field.
Daxing is served by a comprehensive suite of ATC frequencies. Tower operates on 118.825 MHz and 118.375 MHz, and Ground on 121.975 MHz and 121.625 MHz. Approach control is available on 126.1 MHz, 119 MHz and 126.5 MHz, with additional approach-north frequencies on 122.25 MHz and 122.7 MHz. Arrival ATIS is broadcast on 127.225 MHz and departure ATIS on 128.4 MHz. No specific navaid or published instrument approach detail is available beyond this, and no ILS is recorded for the runways.
The airport's position between Yufa Town and Lixian Town in Daxing District, close to the Beijing-Hebei boundary, makes these small settlements useful ground references when orienting toward the field. Tiananmen Square and central Beijing lie roughly 46 kilometres to the north, Langfang city centre about 26 kilometres to the east, and Beijing Capital International Airport around 65 kilometres to the northeast, all of which can serve as distant visual anchors when navigating toward Daxing from the Beijing area.
Official approval for construction was granted by the National Development and Reform Commission on 22 December 2014, calling for a new airport in the southern part of Daxing District along the Beijing-Hebei border. The airport opened on 26 September 2019, with the terminal designed by Zaha Hadid featuring a distinctive starfish layout with concourses extending up to a kilometre from the centre. Its opening prompted the closure of the older Beijing Nanyuan Airport. The Civil Aviation Administration of China initially required each mainland Chinese airline, other than China Postal Airlines, to operate from only one of the two Beijing airports, with China Eastern Group and China Southern Group each allocated 40 percent of landing slots and the remainder split among smaller carriers; foreign airlines were permitted to serve both fields. On 1 May 2019 this arrangement was revised, with China Eastern Group giving up 10 percent of its slots to Air China Group in exchange for retaining its Shanghai-Beijing service at Capital Airport. SkyTeam carriers gradually shifted operations to Daxing, including XiamenAir's full relocation and Aeroflot's move from Capital in June 2020; China Eastern transferred all its Beijing flights to Daxing except Shanghai-Hongqiao services, and China Southern transferred all its Beijing operations to Daxing on 25 October 2020. Planned new international routes to Paris and Tokyo at the end of March 2020 were delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Daxing operates as a major hub for SkyTeam alliance airlines, including Air China, China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines, China United Airlines, Beijing Capital Airlines and XiamenAir, with several Oneworld carriers such as British Airways also present; most Star Alliance carriers, including Hainan Airlines, continue to operate primarily from Capital Airport. The airport's four runways and associated air traffic control system are designed to handle very high movement rates, reflecting its role as one of the primary gateways to the Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei region.