The Airport Expressway (), officially the S12, is a controlled-access highway in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, China, which links central Beijing to the

Beijing Capital International Airport Beijing Capital International Airport is one of two international airports serving Beijing, the other one being Beijing Daxing International Airport (PKX). It is located northeast of Beijing's city center, in an exclave of Chaoyang District ...

. It is just under 20 km in length. Opened in 1993, the expressway links Sanyuanqiao on the northeastern 3rd Ring Road to Beijing Airport. Another expressway, the

2nd Airport Expressway The 2nd Airport Expressway (), officially numbered S51, is a toll expressway that connects eastern Beijing with Terminal 3 of Beijing Capital International Airport. It opened on February 29, 2008, just prior to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. It run ...

, was built in 2008 prior to the Beijing Olympics to serve traffic from the city to the airport.

Route

The Airport Expressway runs entirely within the confines of the municipality of Beijing. Basic Route:

( Sanyuanqiao - Siyuan - Beigao - Xiaotianzu -

) Status: The entire expressway is complete.

History

The expressway opened on September 14, 1993, following a year-long construction effort which began on July 2, 1992. Previously, all traffic used the old Airport Road, which was tested to the limit in the early 1990s. This expressway has slashed driving time to the airport from the previous hour (using the old airport road) to just around 15 minutes. It is convenient and traffic is usually smooth.

Extension into the 2nd Ring Road

A 2.5 km stretch of expressway links Sanyuanqiao on the 3rd Ring Road to the area between Dongzhimen and Xiaojieqiao on the 2nd Ring Road. Construction started in 2004; it was finished in 2006.

Alternate Routes

Further approach routes to the airport were built in the first decade of the 21st century. The Northern Airport Line (机场北线), completed between 2005 and 2006, connected the

Jingcheng Expressway Jingcheng may refer to: * Xu Jingcheng (許景澄) (1845–1900), Qing Dynasty diplomat *Jingcheng (竟成), a pseudonym of educator Kong Zhaoshou *Jingcheng, a name for Beijing's inner city * Jingcheng, Nanjing County, Zhangzhou (靖城镇), a tow ...

with the northern part of the airport, to form a northern approach route. The route commences at Lutong, just over halfway between the

5th Ring Road Beijing's 5th Ring Road (, China Road Numbering: S50 (Beijing) is a ring road encircling the city about away from the city centre. It takes the form of an expressway and is in length. Being a ring road, it has no natural start or end point, ...

and the 6th Ring Road, on the

. In 2008, another route, the

, was built between the eastern 5th Ring Road and the airport in time for the Beijing Olympics. Both routes have significantly alleviated traffic to the airport from the city proper.

Road Conditions

Speed Limit

Leftmost lane: minimum 100 km/h, maximum 120 km/h. Other lanes: minimum 60 – 80 km/h, maximum 100 km/h.

Tolls

CNY 0.5/km as of

intersection for sections south of the toll gate. Entire stretch from Sanyuanqiao to

costs CNY 5 (price for small passenger cars). As of June 2011, the Airport Express is free of charge into the city, but retains the CNY 5 fare toward the airport.
Note: For frequent users, a sensor-style Express Transit Card is available.

Lanes

6 lanes (3 up, 3 down) uniformly.

Traffic

Good during the day. Mild traffic jams during rush hour, mostly in the southern section of the road near Beijing.

Major Exits

NE 2nd Ring Road, NE 3rd Ring Road, NE 4th Ring Road, Dashanzi, NE

, Beigao, Xiaotianzu,

Service Areas

None on the expressway. The Weigou exit has a gas station close to it (on the way back to

Connections

Ring Roads of Beijing: Connects with the NE 2nd Ring Road between Dongzhimen and Xiaojieqiao, NE 3rd Ring Road at Sanyuanqiao, the NE 4th Ring Road at Siyuan, and the NE

at Wuyuan Bridge.

List of exits

Listed are exits heading northeast as of

( 2nd Ring Road)
Symbols: ↗ = exit, ⇆ = main interchange; → = only when heading for the airport; ← = only when heading for central Beijing; ↘ = exit only; ¥ = central toll gate * ⇆ 1: ''(Interchange with 3rd Ring Road)'' 3rd Ring Road (Sanhuanlu) * ⇆ 2: (↘ if ←) ''(Interchange with 4th Ring Road)'' 4th Ring Road (Sihuanlu) * ↗ 3: Dashanzi * ⇆ 4: (↘ if ←) ''(Interchange with

)'' 5th Ring Road * ⇆ 5: ''(Interchange with

China National Highway 101 China National Highway 101 is a major trunk route connecting Beijing to Shenyang, Liaoning. In Beijing it is known as Jingshun Road () or Jingmi Road () for connecting central Beijing to Shunyi District and Miyun District, although the actual ...

)'' Beigao,

Shunyi Shunyi District () is an administrative district of Beijing, located to the northeast of the city's urban core. As of 2014, the population of the district is around 983,000, of which approximately 601,000 have local residency permits. The Beiji ...

* ↗ 6: Weigou * ↗ 7: Yanglin Road * ¥ Xiaotianzu * ↗ 8: (→) Xiaotianzu Road / (←)

, Tongzhou * ↗ (→, ↘) South Apron (to Terminal 3) *

(Terminals 1 and 2)