Beijing Capital International Airport
Beijing Capital International Airport located 25.35 km northeast of Beijing's city center, is the largest and busiest airport in China. At the airport, 66 domestic and foreign airline companies are participating in the operational business, including 11 domestic companies and 55 foreign companies. More than 5,000 scheduled flights are available to 88 cities in China and 69 cities abroad. It ranks the ninth busiest passenger airport in the world.
The airport officially opened on March 2, 1958, with a floor area of only about ten thousand sq m and a handling capacity of 230 passengers per hour, mainly for government use. On January 1, 1980, Terminal 1 (T1) went into operation and was designed to serve 60 flights daily and a maximum of 1,500 passengers per hour. But by the mid-1990s, it became too small. T 1 was then closed for renovation after the opening of Terminal 2 (T2) on November 1, 1999 and reopened on September 20, 2004. Terminal 3 (T3) was completed in February 2008, in time for the Beijing Olympics.
T3 is the largest single structure terminal in the world, and is certain to improve the efficiency of Beijing's air links and increase travelers' comfort. Occupying an area of 986,000 square meters, T3 is twice as big as T1 and T2 combined. T3 is equipped with a fast baggage moving facility with a capacity of 20,000 pieces per hour. Its moving speed is as high as 12 m per second, compared with the conventional speed of 0.5 m – 1.5 m per second. Moreover, it is linked with the city proper with an Airport Express Line of Beijing Subway, which takes only 16 minutes to bring the passengers to the airport ground transport center. Website: www.bcia.com.cn
