Beijing Airport, China (NAY) > Reviews > Beijing Airport - a nice place to depart or arrive

Author's product rating:   

Advantages:	clean, lots of space, convenient, easy, quick
Disadvantages:	airport tax for some

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

The Beijing airport is probably just as good as many new airports in developed countries. I have lived in Beijing for three and a half years and this new airport is a great improvement to the old one.

This airport has a very big feel to it. The ceilings are very high making it feel less crowded than it may be and its extremely clean. The light colours are probably what make it look so clean. There are escalators for those who can't be bothered with stairs and there are conveyor belts on the straight walkways for those who are to lazy or tired to walk. It is a very convenient airport as there are lots of signs around to help direct you in the right direction. What is so great about it being so spacey is that on arrival or when departing you don't have to creep through narrow halls packed with people that you bump into or who bump into you, thus you can move at your own pace without really noticing or bothering with anyone else’s preferences.

On arrival there are some guards who basically block off the ways in which you are not supposed to go so you won't end up going the wrong way. Believe it or not, even if there are lots of people coming off the plane there is still a chance that you don't follow them all and go the wrong way. Otherwise there is also a possibility that the first people off the plane immediately go the wrong way and in this way stray everyone else away from the correct path. The conveyor belts that bring in the luggage that was stowed away in the plane's compartments are very clearly labeled although I have to say from yesterday's experience, not always correctly.

Yesterday wasn't too bad as there were two conveyor belts which were bringing in the luggage but one was labeled "First class" and the other "Economy". The belts were next to each other and my luggage appeared on the "First Class" belt even though I traveled in economy. This wasn’t too much of a hassle though and it was the first time I have ever experienced a mistake like this at the new airport, and such a little mistake at that.

Customs and immigration are extremely easy to get through. I have only gone through the whole immigration cue a couple of times because I can get through the easy way with my diplomatic passport. So for you diplomats out there, immigration is extremely easy at this diplomat-friendly airport. Yesterday for instance I just went waltzing up to the counter (there was no line to stand in, waiting), had the man at the desk look quickly at my passport and my customs form and then continued to the baggage claim area. Oh, and as for customs I did have to get in a cue but it was incredibly fast as well. There was just a woman at a desk who just picked up every customs form from the people in line. There was no other hassle of her checking passports or stamping things or anything like that.

When all of that was done I just picked up my luggage which came quite quickly and went out the doors into the hall where family members meet you. This hall is usually quite empty but yesterday it was very full. It was no matter though as the crowd let me pass easily.

The upstairs section of the airport is dedicated to international departures while domestic departures are on the ground level. An inconvenience when you depart is that you have to pay the airport tax which is 100 yuan , divide that by 12 to get the price in pounds (8.33 pounds). This is the cost per person. It isn’t too much of a hassle to get pay the tax, as there are many booths where you can pay the tax. Another plus for diplomats is you don’t have to pay the tax. Sometimes they might tell you to pay the tax when you are going through to the gate but just as long as you are a little stubborn and repeat the word “diplomat” open up your passport like cops do with their badges on the telli, you’ll get no fuss. Check-in is easy as well. The cues can get longish if you are late so try to be on the early side. It doesn’t take very long because there are lots of people who do the checking in (if there is one thing that China has it is human resources). There are screens before you get to Check-in which tell you where you need to go out of all of the check-in stations. There are lots and lots of stations for check-in and yes they do have the flight company labeled but it is easier if you know if you need to go left or right instead of going around and scanning all the booths.

The procedure for getting to you actual gate isn’t too bad either. You have to fill out a departure form and go through the customs which doesn’t take very long, and again there is a special cue for diplomats where there usually isn’t actually much of a cue at all if any. Then you get to an area where there are duty free goods and then you go to another group of security where you put your carry on luggage through the x-ray machine. This shouldn’t be new to anyone as it is standard procedure in every airport.

There is a parking lot outside of a few stories where there is more than enough room for everyone. It is a two floor lot. Parking is not too expensive either so that isn’t a problem. Once we left our car there for the duration of our trip, to find it safe and sound in the parking lot when we got back to Beijing. At first the officer in the booth wanted to charge us an astronomical price but he had just made some errors in calculation which were cleared up quite quickly.

The airport is very conveniently connected to the city. There is an airport expressway which leads you into the city. You can either get off it at the 3rd ring road (one of the 4 complete ring roads which as their names suggest, go around the city in concentric circles), or you can keep going straight and go deeper into the city. The express way costs 15 yuan which equivalent to less than 1pound 50 p. On the way to the airport you can either take the airport expressway or go by other means which I don’t suggest because they take a lot longer and the roads are in poor shape. The expressway is quick and very wide and comfortable, keeping the traffic levels to a minimum.

The new airport is more sophisticated and all the usual hassles of papers to fill out and desks to go by where the papers are checked have been speeded up. All in all a pleasant airport to depart and arrive at!