Walking & Exploring Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK), China

Walking & Exploring Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK), China

Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK) is one of two international airports serving Beijing, the capital city of China, the other one being Beijing Daxing International Airport (PKX). It is located 32 km (20 mi) northeast of Beijing's city center, in an exclave of Chaoyang District and the surroundings of that exclave in suburban Shunyi District. The airport is owned and operated by the Beijing Capital International Airport Company Limited, a state-controlled company. The airport's IATA Airport code, PEK, is based on the city's former romanized name, Peking.

Beijing Capital has rapidly ascended in rankings of the world's busiest airports in the past decade. It overtook Tokyo-Haneda Airport as the busiest airport in Asia in terms of passenger traffic and total traffic movements in 2009, and was the world's second busiest airport in terms of passenger traffic, behind Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport, from 2010 to 2019. The airport registered 557,167 aircraft movements (takeoffs and landings), ranking 6th in the world in 2012. In terms of cargo traffic, Beijing airport has also witnessed rapid growth. By 2012, the airport had become the 13th busiest airport in the world by cargo traffic, registering 1,787,027 metric tons (1,758,804 long tons; 1,969,860 short tons).

The facility covers an area of 3,657 acres (14.8km2) of airport property.