No city in Asia runs a bigger dual-airport system: Beijing Capital handled 70.7 million passengers in 2025 while Daxing crossed 50 million for the first time — 53.6 million, with international traffic up 24.6%. Together they move 124 million people a year, and both are growing.
Beijing Capital (PEK) closed 2025 at 70.7 million passengers, up 5%, with the international and regional share growing four times faster: 17.3 million travelers, +16.3%. Momentum carried into 2026 — 12.1 million passengers in January–February (+8.6%), and March at 6.2 million (+10.9%) with international up 19.4%.
The network is deliberately being rebuilt outward: Oslo, Tel Aviv, Malé and Tbilisi joined in 2025, Abu Dhabi in early 2026, and Air China resumed New Delhi in April 2026 after a six-year gap. For travelers, PEK remains the airport of full-service reach — and the one closest to the city center.
Daxing (PKX) opened in 2019 and has scaled faster than any airport its age: 53.62 million passengers and 345,800 flights in 2025, averaging 146,900 travelers a day — with a record 192,500 in a single day in early 2026 and a record 5.7 million in August 2026. Cumulative traffic since opening passed 237 million.
The differentiator is service, not just scale: a perfect 5/5 in ACI's 2025 Airport Service Quality program, best Asia-Pacific airport over 40 million passengers, cleanest in the region, and five straight years atop China's national service evaluation. International is the growth engine — 5.89 million passengers in 2025, +24.6%, with Moscow, Osaka, Seoul, Kuala Lumpur, Abu Dhabi and Riyadh among the most popular routes.
Daxing's public-transport share reached 38% in 2025: the Daxing Airport Express runs from Caoqiao (first train now 5:30), intercity rail links the airport to Xiong'an and Beijing West, and airport buses reach eight railway stations plus Capital airport. PEK counters with the Capital Airport Express to Dongzhimen and Sanyuanqiao on the subway.
Which airport? Check before you book ground transport — the two sit on opposite sides of the metropolis, roughly 65 km apart, and a wrong guess costs 90 minutes.
Choose your airport by where you sleep. Staying in the CBD, Sanlitun or Wangfujing? Fly Capital — the Airport Express puts you at Dongzhimen in 20 minutes. Staying south, or connecting domestically on China Southern or China Eastern? Daxing's single-terminal design makes transfers genuinely fast, and its service scores are earned. One more tip: Daxing's "Safe and Sound Overnight" program lets domestic passengers check in early and stay overnight landside — a real option for early departures that most travelers don't know exists.
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