We recommend at least 1 hour 45 min for a comfortable connection at Baiyun. The minimum connection time is 60 minutes for domestic flights and 110 minutes for international flights. Transit between terminals takes up to 25 minutes.

Domestic-to-Domestic: 60 min. Domestic-to-International: 90 min. International-to-Domestic: 90 min. International-to-International: 110 min. These are the shortest layovers airlines will sell at Baiyun.

Guangzhou Baiyun (CAN) is China Southern Airlines' primary hub and one of the busiest airports in Asia, built around a two-terminal complex linked by an automated people mover. Domestic-to-domestic transfers within the same terminal are efficient, but any connection involving international flights requires immigration, customs, and often baggage recheck, which eats up time quickly during peak hours. T1 and T2 are connected by an APM train that takes about 6-8 minutes, plus walking and queuing time at each end that can push total transfer time to 20-25 minutes. A backup shuttle bus service runs the same route when the APM is down for maintenance. International arrivals must clear immigration and, in many cases, collect and recheck baggage before continuing, which does not apply to same-terminal domestic-to-domestic transfers.

Security and gate walk times alone typically exceed 30 minutes during busy periods. See full 30 min guide →

Falls short of the 60-minute domestic-domestic MCT baseline. See full 45 min guide →

Matches the domestic-domestic MCT exactly, so it's the bare minimum for a same-terminal connection. See full 1 hr guide →

Comfortable for domestic-domestic but still tight if the flight involves immigration or a terminal switch. See full 1¼ hr guide →

Meets the domestic-international MCT but leaves little buffer for immigration queues or the T1-T2 transfer. See full 1½ hr guide →

Two hours comfortably covers immigration, baggage recheck, and a terminal change if needed. See full 2 hr guide →

Ample time even for international-to-international transfers with customs formalities. See full 2½ hr guide →

Well beyond any MCT here, allowing time to shop or rest in the terminal. See full 3 hr guide →

Four hours is more than enough for any connection type, even during peak congestion. See full 4 hr guide →