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September 15, 2014
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September 20, 2014Beijing Capital Intl. Airport Spotting Guide
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- last modified on December 19, 2022
Beijing Capital International Airport (IATA: PEK & OACI: ZBAA)is currently the second busiest airport in the world and the busiest in Asia. It handled 100.1 million passengers in 2018 and traffic is split on three runways, of which the last was only recently opened in 2007. Even though arrivals are often split on all three runways, you will catch lots of movements, due to the extremely high traffic. With the opening of the new Daxin airport in China, lots of carriers moved away from PEK like China Southern, China United and more SkyTeam carriers.
Capital Airport is the main gateway to the Chinese capital city and a major hub for the four major Chinese airlines: Air China and Hainan Airlines. Of course you will see lots of international traffic from all over the world, with most major carriers flying at least once a day to PEK.
Cargo operations are not as strong as passenger traffic, but you can see a few local carriers like SF Airlines and China Postal, which mostly operate flights in the morning. Use the official airport website for scheduled and estimated times on these flights.
There is one major drawback to spotting in Beijing. Even though the weather is generally pretty good and the area enjoys a great deal of sunshine over the year, the city (and the airport as well) frequently suffers from extreme air pollution (smog), which makes spotting terribly difficult, as the sun can be blocked out and/or you will often only have a gray or white background in your images.
Most locations around the airport are on the south side, so when landings from the south are in progress. This is the best direction for spotting and this guide primarily deals with these ops. PEK mainly operates in the northernly direction (i.e. landings/take-offs from south to north) due to the restrictions of airspace. In general, Beijing is a very spotter friendly airport and you need not worry about getting into trouble with the police.
visit PEK official website to look for information of flights coming in and out of PEK. The website usually updates the flights for the next day at 11:00 p.m. (Beijing time, UTC+8, sometimes at 11:30pm). Airlines not in their database will be marked as “北京空港地面服务有限公司”, mostly includes military and government aircrafts.
General tips for China
Some websites and app don’t work in China (like Whattsap or Facebook/Messanger ecc.) so you might need a list of useful apps:
- WeChat: every Chinese person has this app, it also has a good translation function that helps really a lot because the language is the main barrier. You can translate from Chinese writings and they can translate your English into Chinese characters. This is a must have.
- Didi: the Chinese “Uber”
- Mobike: If you need to rent a bike (not totally needed in Sanya)
- Baidu Maps: This is the “Google Maps” that works, instead of the Google one
We recommend to buy a prepaid card at the airport during transit as the chance to talk to an english speaking seller is much bigger there.
Written by Jan Seba, Mao Ting, Martin Yu, Tanyang Hei, Thomas Okaty & Yixin Chen. Last Update: December 2022 (Spot 12 and 13 updated)
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| Airport Information | |
| Runways | |
| 18L/36R | 3.810 m (12.500 ft) |
| 18R/36L | 3.445 m (11.302 ft) |
| 01/19 | 3.810 m (12.500 ft) |
| Terminals | |
| Terminal 1 | Closed |
| Terminal 2 | Hainan and its subsidiaries, SkyTeam, Oneworld. And some more carriers |
| Terminal 3 | Air China and all Star Alliance carriers. And some more intl. carriers |
| Spotting Information | |
| Ladder | Not required. |
| Car/Public Transport | Car is not required. Taxi is a good choice, but make sure the driver uses the taximeter. Most short drives around the airport are less than 2 Euros. It is advisable to prepare some maps at home to show to the taxi driver. Make sure the maps have the written name (in Chinese!) of the location (or streets) where you want to go. Do not expect taxi drivers to speak English. Though some of them know one or two words it will never be enough so that you explain where you want to go.
Another alternative to get around PEK is metro+bike. There are rental bikes distributed around the airport area, mostly MoBike and ofo. You can download their apps in advance and ride wherever you’d like to go. The cost is only 1 CNY per hour. Metro is also useful for spotting at PEK. For locations near T3, you can simply take Airport Express line to Terminal 3 and then walk/bike to those locations. For locations near the west runway, you can take Subway Line 15 to China International Exhibition Center or Hualikan and then ride/taxi to the locations. |
| Restrooms | The terminal is close to a few locations and offers restrooms. Otherwise there is nothing at most of the locations. |
| Drinks/Food | Take drinks and snacks with you, but you can buy things in the terminal if you are close. |
| Hotels | There are a few hotels in the area around the airport, but some of them are in an industrial area, where you will hardly find supermarkets and restaurants. The area to the southeast (where the CITIC is located) has some good opportunities. There’s also a spotting hotel near Terminal 2, see location #10. |
| Season | Season is a difficult topic in PEK. In recent years, the government in Beijing has made huge efforts in improving the air quality, especially in winter. Besides, Beijing usually witnesses strong wind in winter, which likely results in clear days. I would recommend winter although the days are relatively short. North-south operations often happen in spring and the weather in spring is not that bad. So spring is also a good season to visit PEK. The summertime from June to August records the highest amount of precipitation. Furthermore, Beijing is usually smoggy and way too hot in summer. Autumn (especailly late autumn) is simillar to spring, except less southernly operations. In summary, October – April are good months to visit PEK. |
| Runway Usage | |
| General Info | In general, all runways are used for arrivals and departures, though some carriers have preferences due to the location of their terminal, those are noted accordingly. If you are after a special movements, which is only once or a few times a week, look up aviation photos online of these specific movements in PEK, sometimes the uploader wrote a comment, which RWY was used and you can get a feeling, where it will most likely land. Air Kyoto nearly always uses 01 landing. Most of the governmental/military or any rare visitors use the middle runway for landings/take-offs. Remember all the comments from below are based on impressions and they can be false or the system in PEK might have changed over the time. Another tip worth mentioning is that even PEK sometimes operates southernly, the operation nearly only changes in the afternoons. |
| 18L/36R | Main departure runway, which is also used for landings in peak periods. In the morning it is very busy with departures and handles only a handful of arrivals and gets busier with arrivals starting noon. |
| 18R/36L | Preferred runway for Hainan and most Terminal 2 carriers. Also often used for international arrivals, regardless of terminal location, so you can see for example United or Turkish Airlines here. This is also the main cargo runway. Usually handles more arrivals than departures. |
| 01/19 | Preferred runway for Air China and often Star Alliance carriers. Seems to handle more arrivals than departures. |
Due to national security concerns, the use of geographic information in China is restricted and the layers in google maps don´t fit. The satellite images are correct but the street layers are displaced!
Please click on the link at each location (WHERE) to get to the chinese website baidu where you find an exact map with satellite and street view images. If you use a smartphone please download the Baidu App.
By loading the map, you agree to Google's privacy policy.
Learn more
Field – 01 Arrivals Morning
| WHERE | The location is on Siwei Rd. From the airport it is about a 30 minute walk. If you feel confident enough to use a taxi, make sure to download the “Didi” app (similar like Uber and Lyft in the US or Grab in Southeast Asia) prior to your trip. This will ensure that the taxi driver will pick you up or drop you off at the exact location and the language barrier won’t become an issue. |
| WHAT | You can shoot the arrivals on RWY 01 here and you can vary your location according to your preferences for angle and distance. |
| TIME | Light conditions are good from sunrise until 11 AM. |
| MISC. | There is nothing here. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 110mm for a B772 and 190mm for an A320. |
Parking Lot – 01 Arrivals Evening
| WHERE | The spot is on a sidewalk next to a staff parking lot south of the termnal. It’s not possible to drive directly to this location, it is probably easier to let the taxi driver drop you off at the Terminal. From there descend (inside the terminal) to ground level and walk a small pathway towards the parking lot. Stay within the grass area and do not shoot from the parking lot itself, as people have been sent away from there.
Update: Possibly the grass area is now also off limits in case you are asked to move from here just go to the walkway or closer to the RWY threshold. |
| WHAT | You can shoot the arrivals on RWY 01. From the airport feeder ramp you could theoretically also shoot lineups, but they are very far away and pictures will be prone to heat haze. Furthermore you will have trouble shooting the aircraft without obstructions in your picture. |
| TIME | Light conditions are good from 2:30 PM until sunset. |
| MISC. | There are rubbish bins at the location and everything else is in the terminal. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 100mm for a B772 and 175mm for an A320. |
T3 East Departure Bridge - 01 arrivals/line-up
| WHERE | UPDATE December 22: Location has become completely prohibited anyone from staying on the east and west sides of the bridge in any form. If the police find you, you will be removed or taken to the terminal for questioning. |
| WHAT | |
| TIME | |
| MISC. | |
| FOCAL LENGTH | |
Park – 36R Arrivals Morning
| WHERE | Even though it’s possible to drive directly to this location, it is probably easier to let the taxi driver drop you off at Terminal 3. From there descend (inside the terminal) to ground level and walk a couple of small pathways to the park. Once you’re there just shoot over the water and you won’t have any obstructions.
Update Dec 2022: park is open for public and there are no restrictions anymore |
| WHAT | From here you can shoot the arrivals on RWY 36, but as mentioned under Runway Usage, this runway is not very busy in the morning, but if you are hoping for a special highlight, this might be the place to be. |
| TIME | Light conditions are good from sunrise until 11 AM. |
| MISC. | Shops and restrooms are in the terminal. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | Not tested, but should be less than 200mm for an A320. |
Park Hill – 36R Arrivals Evening, Lineups
| WHERE | In the small park south of the airport there is a hill, which offers a nice elevated location for you. The best way the get here is most likely by trying to show the taxi driver the crossing between Erwei and Yijing Rd. If that fails, just let him drive you to the Terminal and walk from there to the location, it’s not that far.
Update Dec 2022: park is open for public and there are no restrictions anymore or reservations needed |
| WHAT | Good for shooting RWY 36R arrivals in the evening, when the runway gets more traffic. But the airplanes are relatively high here, so the angle is worse compared to all the other locations. As a small bonus this is probably the best location to take lineup shots on 36R, but you will also face heat haze around noon for that. |
| TIME | Light conditions are good from 2:30 PM until sunset for arrivals and lineups can be good all day (except early morning) depending on how you like to shoot them. |
| MISC. | There are benches and rubbish bins in the park. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 50 – 300mm MU A330 = 60mm / CA B737 = 85mm / SDA B737 = 100mm / CA B737 = 300mm / CA B777 = 60mm / Private Jet = 155mm |
Road Intersection – 36L Arrivals Morning
| WHERE | You will find this location at a large intersection of the Tianbei Rd. Most taxi drivers will know this road, so it will be relatively easy to get here. You just have to tell them to stop once you are close to the spot. The best place to shoot is a small grass strip east of the intersection and behind the traffic lights, where you do not disturb anyone and the traffic and lamp posts don’t disturb you. |
| WHAT | Good location for shooting 36L in the morning, where you can catch most of the cargo arrivals. |
| TIME | Light conditions are good from sunrise until 11 AM all year round. |
| MISC. | It can happen that the security guard from the company next door approaches you and wants to know what you are doing, but they should be ok with you after they know that you are shooting pictures of the airplanes. Other than that, there is nothing useful at this location. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 130mm for a B744 and 240mm for an A320. |
China Inn Hotel - 36L arrivals
| WHERE | It is an alternative to spot 6. The intersection at spot 6 is a very traffic crowdy and noisy place with just a small place to stay over the grass, attracting the attention of the police. Moreover the aircraft are quite far away and long lenses are needed. Just walking 100 m on Tiambei Rd, there is a small road on the right called Tianzhou Rd. Still 100 m and on your right there a hotel/residence called China Inn. There you can stop and take photos at the landing planes from a very favourable angle, with shorter focals. |
| WHAT | 36L landings only. |
| TIME | Light conditions are good from sunrise until 11 AM all year round. |
| MISC. | There is the China Inn hotel next to you. It have windows openable but we did not try it. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | A20N = 155mm; A333 = 100mm |
Overpass Bridge - 36L arrivals
| WHERE | There is also a good spotting location for 36L arrivals from noon to sunset. Just follow Tianbei Rd (beginning at location #5) westwards until you see a pedestrian overpass. Climb up the ramp (or the staircase) to the overpass on the south side of Tianbei Rd. and position yourself right up on top of the ramp. Moreover, for people without private cars, this spot is easier to arrive by public transport than #9 which offers almost the same sight.
If you need help finding the location go to https://www.google.cn/maps and punch in (copy-paste) 天竺幼儿园停车场 (Tianzhu Kindergarten Parking Lot). It’s right next to the overpass (also on the south side). |
| WHAT | 36L landing |
| TIME | All year round, from noon to evening. |
| MISC. | Nothing nearby, bring everything you need. There is a pbulic toilet 50 meters to the west. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 772 = 140mm; A321 = 230mm |
Leisure Park - 36L arrivals
| WHERE | A small leisure park is being built in the north of Fuqian 2nd Street and offers nice photo opportunities and is an alternative to the previous location. Write in Chinese is “府前二街”, where the view is wide and the environment is good. If you drive there, you can put it in a small car park on the side of the road. If you can find the overpass at #8, then turn right at the intersection from #8 to the west, and then turn right at the intersection, you will see an open park. If you take a taxi, you can tell the driver to go to the capital airport store of the pudding hotel. |
| WHAT | 36L landing and 18R takeoff. |
| TIME | All year round, from noon to evening. |
| MISC. | There are restaurants and hotels across the road. You can find toilets. This is a park, so no one will pay attention to what you are doing. You can stay here easily. There is no need for ladders. Don’t worry about plants in winter. There will be 40cm tall grass on the slope in summer, which needs to be mosquito proof. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 787–85mm，A332–100mm，A321–135mm |
Air China Cargo - 19 arrivals
| WHERE | This location is on the opposite side of the Air China Cargo entrance which is located on the north side of the airport. To get there, copy-paste 北京天竺综合保税区(航港二路) into Baidu maps. The spot itself is along the main road on a grassy area where you can park as well.
UPDATE SEPTEMBER 2021: There are ongoing constructions actually, so taking pictures is off limits. Future situation is unclear. |
| WHAT | All arrivals on Runway 19 |
| TIME | Light conditions are good from 2:30 PM until sunset. |
| MISC. | There’s nothing there, bring everything you need. Probably some planes are too low and you will have parts of the fence in your picture. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | A380/77W=180mm; 738=300mm |
Parking Lot - 36R departures
| WHERE | Continue from #10 southwards and pass the Air China Cargo complex 北京天竺综合保税区(航港二路). After that there is a small parking lot to your right (spotters are no longer allowed to enter the parking lot. ), get south of it and start spotting from the road. By cab tell the driver to kick you out at the Air China Cargo complex and you walk to this place. |
| WHAT | Heavy departures on runway 36R. Look towards the east when arrive at the parking lot, and you can see an open space between two buildings. you can take photos of planes taking off at runway 01 in the afternoon too. |
| TIME | From sunrise until late morning. |
| MISC. | There’s nothing there, bring everything you need. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | A380=180mm |
Industrial Area - 36R departures
| WHERE | This spotting location is in an industrial area next to the “Beijing Tianzhu Comprehensive Free Trade Zone”, north of the airport between runway 18L and 18R. You can park as marked on the map and photograph the planes from there. |
| WHAT | 36R departures only |
| TIME | Light conditions are good from 2:30 PM until sunset. |
| MISC. | This is just an industrial zone so be prepared if you plan a longer stay. Be aware of heat distortion due to the distance. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | A330/767 = 250-300mm |
Spot #13 - Tianzhu Comprehensive Free Trade Zone Parking Lot - 18L arrivals
| WHERE | This spotting location is a bit north of the previous one but this time it is next to the entrance for the “Beijing Tianzhu Comprehensive Free Trade Zone”, north of the airport between runway 18L and 18R. You can park as marked on the map and photograph the planes from there. |
| WHAT | 18L arrivals only |
| TIME | Light conditions are good from 2:30 PM until sunset. |
| MISC. | This is just an industrial zone so be prepared if you plan a longer stay. Be aware of heat distortion due to the distance. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | C130=300mm |
I hang around the Capital Airport during the last days and have some minor updates:
Location 4: The park around the pond was closed all the time for the sake of the pandemic.
Location 5: The park was accessible without any daily visitor number limitation but the hillside itself has been cordoned off for pandemic prevention. Hence line up shots are almost impossible. If you shoot from a lower position on the lawn it will bring the fence into the bottom of your pictures.
Hi Fabian, ist spot 4 wieder frei zugänglich oder noch gesperrt?
VG Julian
It is still closed and I wouldn´t expect that it will be reopened soon. The pandemic situation is for Chinese relations quite severe at the moment.
According to my planespotting experiences, there are at least five more planespotting locations at runway 36R/18L
1. T3 West departure bridge. This is on the same bridge of location 3, but it is on the west. Available for taking photos of approaches and line-ups on runway 36R in the morning.
Be extremely careful when spotting at this location: there is no pedestrian sidewalk on the bridge, so stay low-profile and watch out for incoming vehicles. Encountering police activity is also possible, since it is not allowed for pedestrians to walk on this bridge. There are also Noise protection panels at this location, so look out for photographing angles.
2. A large field on the south of the park. Search location 二纬路与一经路交叉口, and the location is on the southwest of the intersection. Available for spotting morning 36R approaches. It is recommended to go there by taxi, since there aren’t a lot of parking spots nearby.
3. Gangshan bus station. Search location 岗山公交站. Spotting location is on the sidewalks near the bus station. Available for taking photos of afternoon 36R approaches.
4. A location for spotting takeoffs at Runway 36R: Search 北京天竺综合保税区快件（货运北路02号）, available for spotting afternoon takeoffs of runway 36R, but requires lens with long focal length.
5. An overpass on 航站楼联络线(Terminal Connection line), available for spotting afternoon takeoffs of runway 18L, but look out for police activity: this location is close to the business jet terminal.
Also some updates in 2021:
1. If you are planning to visit the park at location 5, you need to make an appointment on wechat prior to your visit. You can make an appointment for today or tomorrow. There are 1000 slots available each day, and it is highly unlikely that the park will run out available slots for this day. It is also advisable to confirm whether the park is open or not with a local planespotter – the park had been frequently closing and opening during summer vacation.
2. Private vehicles are not allowed to drive in or to park at the parking lot at location 2 since it is for airport staffs. You can choose to park your car at the Hilton hotel nearby and walk to the spotting location.
3. (Unconfirmed) Spotting location 11 is unavailable – a new building (possibly a hangar) is being built there
4. Spotting location 12 is also unavailable – spotters are no longer allowed to enter the parking lot. However, spotters are still allowed to take photos outside the parking lot. A better location is at the south of the parking lot – walk south along the road, and you can take photos at the side of the road. You can see planes lifting off on that position.
A remark for location 12: look towards the east when arrive at the parking lot, and you can see an open space between two buildings. you can take photos of planes taking off at runway 01 in the afternoon.
Another tip: you can visit PEK official website http://www.bcia.com.cn to look for information of flights coming in and out of PEK. The website usually updates the flights for the next day at 11:00 p.m. (Beijing time, UTC+8)(sometimes at 11:30pm). Airlines not in their database will be marked as “北京空港地面服务有限公司”, mostly includes military and government aircrafts.
You can ask a local planespotter to know how to use this website or let him/her look through the flights for you.
A question about your update for the park, spot #5. Whats the number to make that appointment on wechat? Is this an official number? Is it possible to talk in english?
-Julian
Sorry for the late reply.
The appointment is not made through a number, but through a thing that works and acts like QR-code. We call it 小程序码 in Chinese and it directs you into a page that looks and acts like an app but it is in wechat and does not need pre-download. The appointment does not involve talking to a real person face to face or by telephone. It only involves submitting a form through this “app”. I have a photo of this code, but I assume there should be a piece of paper at the park gate which have this code on it. You can ask other planespotters or tourists for help, but don’t expect the park guards at the front gate to speak english. 1000 is not a small number, and it is highly unlikely that the park will run out of slots, so even making an appointment at the front gate is possible.
Thank you for the explanation. I have added you infos into the guide.
-Julian