[23] By 2012, the existing Beijing Capital International Airport was running at near its full design capacity.

Arup was subcontracted by Beijing Institute of Architectural Design as the fire engineering consultant,[41] while China IPPR International Engineering was responsible for security system and baggage system designs.

The terminal, according to Lead 8, will encompass "a purposeful design of work spaces, with integrated retail, dining, and entertainment options for the large number of passengers expected," with plans to incorporate interactive pet hotels, a childcare and nursery, hybrid online retail and dining, and a showroom for companies.

[42] Suppliers include Xsight Systems, T-Systems, Schindler, Thales, Beijing EasySky Technology and Oasys.

[42] Construction of the airport began on December 26, 2014,[44] and was led by chief engineer Guo Yanchi.

[41] The airport opened on September 25, 2019—just six days before the 70th anniversary of the People's Republic of China—in a ceremony attended by the Chinese president and General Secretary of the Communist Party Xi Jinping.

[7] The airport serves as the hub for China United Airlines immediately after its opening and all their services have been relocated to Beijing Daxing.

Similarly, China Eastern Airlines has shifted all of its operations to Daxing except for flights to Shanghai-Honqiao.

However, their plan to launch new international routes to Paris and Tokyo at the end of March 2020 have not been realised because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Furthermore, Delta Air Lines announced their intention to move at the end of April 2020, but are currently delayed by the slow reopening of China-US flight allocations.

The Oneworld alliance announced in February 2019, that its member airlines were considering a formal co-location scheme at Daxing,[58] particularly as many of them, now have codeshare partnerships with China Southern.

Alliance members, British Airways and Malaysia Airlines moved their London-Heathrow and Kuala Lumpur to Beijing flights to Daxing.

Qatar Airways announced its intention to move to Daxing between June and August 2020 and is currently flying out of the airport.

Some foreign Star Alliance airlines are joining full member Air China and connecting partner Juneyao at Daxing.

Lufthansa and Swiss International Air Lines initially announced in the same month that they would move their Frankfurt-Beijing and Zurich-Beijing flights from Capital to Daxing at the end of March 2020.

[62] On October 25, 2020, China Southern Airlines transferred all its Beijing flights to Daxing Airport.

[159] Another intercity railway, the Intercity Railway Connector, will connect Langfang, Yizhuang, Beijing Sub-administrative Center in Tongzhou District and Beijing Capital International Airport to Daxing Airport.

Initially, only the Caoqiao-to-airport segment was opened, with a northern extension to Lize Shangwuqu scheduled to begin construction in 2020[165] and finish in 2022.