Beijing Capital International Airport

Infobox Airport
name = Beijing Capital International Airport
nativename-a = _zh. 北京首都国际机场
nativename-r = Běijīng Shǒudū Guójì Jīchǎng

---

caption = The new Terminal 3
image-width = 233


image2-width = 100
caption2 = Logo of Beijing Capital International Airport Company Limited
IATA = officially : PEK
unofficial : BJS
ICAO = ZBAA
type = Public
operator = Civil Aviation Administration of China
city-served = Beijing
location = Chaoyang District, Beijing
elevation-f = 116
elevation-m = 35
coordinates = coord|40|04|48|N|116|35|04|E|type:airport_region:CN|display=inline,title
website = [http://www.bcia.com.cn/ www.bcia.com.cn]
metric-rwy = yes
r1-number = 18L/36R
r1-length-m = 3,800
r1-length-f = 12,468
r1-surface = Asphalt
r2-number = 18R/36L
r2-length-m = 3,200
r2-length-f = 10,499
r2-surface = Asphalt
r3-number = 01/19
r3-length-m = 3,800
r3-length-f = 12,468
r3-surface = Concrete
stat-year = 2007
stat1-header = Passengers
stat1-data = 53,736,923
stat2-header = Aircraft movements
stat2-data = 399,986
footnotes = Statistics from Airports Council International [http://www.aci.aero/cda/aci_common/display/main/aci_content07_c.jsp?zn=aci&cp=1-5-54-57_666_2__ Preliminary Airport Traffic Results for 2007] |109 KiB , Airports Council International, 7 March 2007] Chinese
t=linktext|北|京|首|都|國|際|機|場
s=linktext|北|京|首|都|国|际|机|场
j=Bak1ging1 Sau2dou1 Gwok3zai3 Gei1coeng4
p=Běijīng Shǒudū Guójì Jīchǎng

Beijing Capital International Airport, (zh-stp|s=北京首都国际机场|t=北京首都國際機場|p=Běijīng Shǒudū Guójì Jīchǎng) Airport codes|PEK|ZBAA is the main international airport that serves the capital city of Beijing, People's Republic of China. The IATA Airport Code is PEK, reflecting Beijing's former Romanization Peking. The code BJS is also frequently used, reflecting the current pinyin spelling of Beijing and including all airports in the Beijing metropolitan area; currently, Beijing Capital (PEK) is the only civil-aviation airport that falls under BJS.

Overview

The airport is located 20km to the north-east of the Beijing city-center. Although many consider it to lie in Shunyi District, it is, in fact, an exclave of Chaoyang District, Beijing.

The airport is a primary hub of operations for Air China, which flies to around 120 destinations (excluding cargo). It is also a hub for Hainan Airlines and China Southern Airlines. The airport expansion is largely funded by a 500-million-euro (USD 625 million) loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB). The loan is the largest ever granted by the EIB in Asia; the agreement was signed during the eighth China-EU Summit held in September 2005.Fact|date=March 2007

In 2007, Beijing Capital served 53,736,923 passengers, and became the 9th busiest airport worldwide. It also registered 399,986 aircraft movements, which was the world's 23rd busiest airport and the only Asian airport appearing in the world's thirty busiest airports in terms of traffic movement. It operates around 1100 flights a day, and that figure is expected to rise to 1500-1600 during the Olympics in 2008. [ [http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-11/01/content_6991018.htm Air China to issue 400 mln shares ] ]

History

Beijing Airport was opened on March 2, 1958, and was the first in the People's Republic of China.Fact|date=March 2007 The airport consisted of one small terminal building, which still stands to this day, apparently for the use of VIPs and charter flights. On January 1, 1980, a newer, larger building - green in colour - opened, with docks for 10 to 12 aircraft. The terminal was larger than the one in the 1950s, but by the mid-1990s, it was too small. The terminal was then closed for renovation after the opening of Terminal 2.

In late 1999, to mark the 50th anniversary of the founding of the PRC, the airport was expanded again. This new terminal opened on November 1, and was named Terminal 2. September 20, 2004, saw the opening of a new Terminal 1 for a few airlines, including China Southern Airlines' domestic and international flights from Beijing. Other airlines' domestic and international flights still operate in Terminal 2.

Another expansion, Terminal 3 (T3) was completed in February 2008, in time for the Beijing Olympics. This colossal expansion includes a third runway and another terminal for Beijing airport, and a rail link to the city-center. It is the largest man made structure in the world in terms of area covered, and a major landmark in Beijing representing the growing and developing Chinese city.

The third runway of BCIA opened on October 29, 2007, to relieve congestion on the other two runways. [ [http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/olympics/2007-10/29/content_6214115.htm Beijing Airport's third runway opens on Monday ] ]

Future

Air China, China Eastern and China Southern have cut capacity on the Beijing-Shanghai routes. This is because of overcrowding and to increase safety. The CAAC will also ban any start-up airlines until 2010 because of overcapacity and major constraints. However, the opening of the third runway has increased the number of movements to approximately 620,000. However, during the Olympics, it will cut its movements to 1350 a day, to prevent airlines being stuck on the tarmac for periods of time.

The airport is expected to handle 64 million passengers in 2008, due to the high demand from the Olympics, potentially making it the top 5 airports in terms of passenger traffic. The capacity of the airport will be an estimated 82 million, up from the current 35.5 million before the opening of Terminal 3. [ [http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/olympics/2007-12/06/content_6302984.htm Airport notches up 50 m passengers ] ]

A new airport is also planned, starting construction in 2010, located approximately 40km south of downtown Beijing. Other preferred site is to the south of the city near the Yongding River, which forms a boundary between Beijing and Hebei Province. The Daxing District at south has been another proposed site. The capacity of the new planned super airport is around 70-100 million. Upon completion of the new airport, most domestic routes will be transferred to the new proposed airport. There are also other plans to expand BCIA with a fourth runway joined to the third runway to further increase traffic movements.

Terminals

Terminal 1

Terminal 1, with 60,000 square meters of space, was opened on January 1, 1980, and replaced the small existing terminal which was in operation since the 1950s [ [http://en.bcia.com.cn/about/index.shtml Company Introduction - About Us - BCIA ] ] . The Terminal was closed for renovation from 1999 to September 20, 2004, during which all airlines operated from Terminal 2. Featuring 16 gates, it was the operational base for China Southern Airlines' domestic routes and a few other airlines such as Xiamen Airlines and Chongqing Airlines, and was originally planned to handle domestic traffic, excluding those to Hong Kong and Macau.

With the opening of Terminal 3, the terminal was closed for light refurbishment, and its airlines were moved to Terminal 2 on May 20, 2008 [ [http://www.bcia.com.cn/experience/notify080513.html China Southern, Xiamen Airlines and Chongqing Airlines move to Terminal 2 ] ] . It reopened on June 27, 2008, and became the operational base for all domestic flights operated by the HNA Group, including those of Hainan Airlines, Grand China Air, Deer Air and Grand China Express Air, while the international flights and the ones between Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and Beijing of the HNA Group remained in Terminal 2. [ [http://www.bcia.com.cn/experience/notify080613.html HNA Group domestic routes move to Terminal 1 ] ]

Terminal 2

Terminal 2 opened on November 1, 1999, a month after the 50th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. This terminal was used to replace Terminal 1 while the later was undergoing renovation, cramping all airlines into this terminal despite it being far bigger than Terminal 1 and can handle twenty airplanes at docks connecting directly to the terminal building. Prior to the opening of Terminal 3, the majority of the flights from PEK operated from this terminal. This terminal now houses China Southern Airlines, China Eastern Airlines, Skyteam, and other domestic and international flights after Air China, Shanghai Airlines, Star Alliance members, Oneworld members moved operations to the new Terminal 3.

There is a passage linking the two terminals together; this is accessible at the public level (no passports needed). There is limited selection of food and dining options at Terminal 2. There is only one restaurant in the international area of the terminal once passengers pass security, and the prices are several times higher than similar food in downtown Beijing. A Japanese set meal is advertised on the official airport website as RMB 88, [cite web|url= http://www.bcia.com.cn/en/in_westfood_eatlist.html|title=Beijing Capital Airport - food options|accessdate=2007-07-25] four-times higher than a similar offering downtown. By comparison, the domestic area of Terminal 2 has a number of dining options, all at more reasonable prices. Kentucky Fried Chicken and Starbucks have opened outlets in the airport in both Terminals 1 and 2. KFC is available at the basement level in Terminal 2, while Starbucks is available on both landside and airsides.

Terminal 3

Construction of Terminal 3 started on March 28, 2004, and was opened in two stages. Trial operations commenced on February 29, 2008, when seven airlines, namely British Airways, El Al Israel Airlines, Qantas, Qatar Airways, Shandong Airlines and Sichuan Airlines moved into the terminal. 20 other airlines moved into the terminal when it became fully operational on March 26, 2008 [ [http://en.bcia.com.cn/ad/notify071211_en.shtml Company Introduction - About Us - BCIA ] ] . Currently, it mainly houses Air China, Oneworld, Star Alliance, and other domestic and international flights.

It was designed by a consortium of NACO (Netherlands Airport Consultants B.V), UK Architect Foster and Partners and ARUP. The budget of the expansion is US$3.5 billion. Far grander in size and scale than the existing terminals, it is the largest airport terminal-building complex built in a single phase with 986,000 square meters in total floor area.Fact|date=May 2008 It features a main passenger terminal (Terminal 3C), two satellite concourses (Terminal 3D and Terminal 3E) and five floors above ground and two underground, with the letters "A and B" omitted to avoid confusions with the existing Terminals 1 and 2. Terminal 3C is dedicated for domestic flights, Terminal 3E for international flights, and Terminal 3D, called the "Olympics Hall", was used for charter flights during the Beijing Olympics, before its use by international flights.

Terminal 3 - if considered an airport on its own - would be the largest airport in the world in land size and one of the world's largest in capacity and land size (approximately 986,000 square meters). It is larger than London Heathrow Airport's 5 terminals combined with another 17% to spare.

ystem, Security and Luggage

A 300,000-square-meter transportation centre is located at the front of T3. 7,000 car-parking spaces will be available if the two-level underground parking lot is fully employed. The transportation centre will have three lanes for different types of vehicles, airport buses, taxis and private vehicles, which will enable a smooth flow of passengers. People bound for T3 will exit their vehicles here and enter T3 via an aisle within five minutes. The transportation centre will also have a light-rail station on a line that begins at the Dongzhimen stop on the Beijing Subway in Central Beijing. Travel time from Dongzhimen to T3 will be about 18 minutes.

There are electrical outlets on either end of every row of seats in the terminal. There are 243 elevators, escalators or moving walkways; and every restroom is accompanied by a mothers’ room where diapers can be changed. There is also a room fortravelers with disabilities.

One of Terminal 3's highlights is the US$240 million luggage-transfer system. The luggage system is equipped with yellow carts, each of which has a code, matching the bar code on every piece of luggage loaded on it, allowing easy and accurate tracking. More than 200 cameras will be used to monitor activities in the luggage area.

The luggage system can handle 19,200 pieces of luggage per hour. After luggage is checked in at any one of the 292 counters at Terminal 3C, they can be transferred at a speed of ten metres per second. Even for international routes, luggage can travel from T3C to T3E in five minutes. Arriving passengers should be able to begin retrieving their luggage within 4.5 minutes after airplanes are unloaded.

Along with X-ray scanners, additional equipment conducts checks such as for explosives. Passengers will be able to check in their luggage at the airport several hours or even a day before their flight. The airport will store them in its luggage system and then load them on the correct aircraft.

The Look

A 98.3-meter monitoring tower stands at the southern end of T3, the highest building at the airport. The roof of T3 is red, the Chinese color for good luck. The terminal’s ceilings use white strips for decoration and to indicate directions. Under the white strips, the basic color of the ceiling is orange with light to dark tones indicating where a passenger is inside the building. It is light orange in the center and deepens as it extends to the sides in T3E and is the other way round in T3C.

The roof of T3 has dozens of windows to let in daylight. Light angles can be adjusted to ensure adequate interior lighting. However, interior lighting in itself is not sufficient for comfortable reading. Many traditional Chinese elements will be employed in the terminal’s interior decoration, including a “Menhai,” a big copper vat used to store water for fighting fires in the Forbidden City, and the carvings imitating the famous Nine-Dragon Wall (Jiulongbi).

An indoor garden is constructed in the T3E waiting area, in the style of imperial gardens such as the Summer Palace. In T3C, a tunnel landscape of an underground garden has been finished with plants on each side so that passengers can appreciate them inside the mini-train.

Facilities

The T3 food-service area is called a “global kitchen,” where 72 stores will provide food ranging from formal dishes to fast food, from Chinese to western, from bakery goods to ice cream. Airport officials have promised that people who buy products at the airport will see the same prices as in Central Beijing.

In addition to food and beverage businesses, there will be a 12,600-square-meter domestic retail area, a 10,600-square-meter duty-free-store area and a nearly 7,000-square-meter convenience-service area, which includes banks, business centres, Internet services and more. At 45,200 square meters, the commercial area will be twice the size of Beijing’s Lufthansa Shopping Centres.

Inter-terminal transportation

To get from Terminal 3C to 3D and 3E, both domestic and international travellers will have to get boarding passes at T3C, but international passengers have to board from T3E. The tww-kilometer trip between the two buildings is shortened to two minutes by an intra-terminal train.

To help passengers go to the right terminal, the airport provides free inter-terminal shuttles between T3 and Terminals 1 and 2 from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. The buses set out every ten minutes from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., and every 20 minutes during other times. [ [http://www.btmbeijing.com/contents/en/business/2007-09/coverstory/termimal3 Beijing This Month- Terminal 3 Poised for Take-off ] ]

It provides 66 aerobridges or jetways, further complemented with remote parking bays which bring the total of gates to 120 for the terminal alone. Terminal 3 also comes with an additional runway. It increases BCIA's total capacity up by 50 million passengers per year to a total of approximately 82 million. [ [http://www.china.org.cn/english/travel/108260.htm Beijing Capital Airport Terminal 3 Complete by 2007 ] ]

Airlines and destinations

After slots were given to Federal Express, Continental Airlines began non-stop flights between Newark and Beijing on June 15, 2005. On September 25, 2007, American Airlines and US Airways were awarded non-stop flights to Beijing from Chicago-O'Hare and Philadelphia, respectively, with the American Airlines' Chicago-O'Hare flight to begin on April 4, 2010, and the US Airways' Philadelphia flight to begin sometime in the Spring of 2010. This became US Airways' first destination in Asia. Both of these airlines will operate from the new Terminal 3 as they are part of Star Alliance (US Airways) and oneworld (American Airlines).

The airport has three terminals. Terminal 1 is currently housing Hainan Airlines and its subsidiaries (while the international routes; Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Macau flights operate from Terminal 2), Terminal 2 serves China Southern Airlines, China Eastern Airlines, SkyTeam members and other domestic and international flights. Terminal 3, the newest terminal at Beijing Airport, serves Air China, Star Alliance and Oneworld members, and some other domestic and international flights which do not operate from Terminals 1 and 2.

According to the Forbes magazine, the airport has been voted the second-worst in 2007 in terms of punctuality. However, airport general manager Dong Zhiyi said official statistics showed that 86.28 per cent of its take-offs were on schedule, much higher than Forbes's reported 33 per cent. These figures would substantially lift it in the Forbes ratings, far above Europe's worst airport, Charles De Gaulle in Paris, which had only 50 percent of departures leaving on time. [ [http://www.thebeijinger.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=19832&start=0 Beijing airport hits back at "second worst" rating | Forum | the Beijinger ] ] In addition, 84.88% of PEK's flights from the June - August period took off or landed in time, despite heavy periods of lightning and rain.

The major long-haul international destinations from Beijing are Frankfurt, London-Heathrow, Los Angeles, New York, Paris-CDG, San Francisco and Vancouver. Other destinations becoming increased include Chicago, Dubai, Sydney, Toronto, Tokyo and Washington.

Destinations by region

Destinations by airlines

Connections

Connections by Road

The airport was remote when it was first built, with a narrow road serving it from Sanyuanqiao. In the early 1990s, a 20 km stretch of toll expressway -- the Airport Expressway -- connecting downtown Beijing from the Northeastern 3rd Ring Road at Sanyuanqiao directly to the airport -- was opened.

By 2008, four expressways will link to the airport:

* Airport Expressway, from the south
* 2nd Airport Expressway, from the east (southeast)
* Northern Airport Line, from the northwest
* Litian Expressway, from the east

All of these expressways, except for the Airport Expressway are under construction.

Connections by Rail/Urban Public Transit

Beijing Capital International Airport is served by the Airport Express Line of the Beijing Subway. The line runs from Terminal 3 and Terminal 2 stations to Dongzhimen, with a stop at Sanyuanqiao. It was opened on July 19, 2008, in time for the 2008 Olympics. Buses run from the airport to many parts of the city.

Photo Gallery

[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4e/Beijing_Airport_Express.jpeg/800px-Beijing_Airport_Express.jpeg] Beijing Airport Express Train

ee also

*Beijing Nanyuan Airport
*China's busiest airports by traffic movements
*China's busiest airports by passenger traffic
*China's busiest airports by cargo traffic
*List of airports in the People's Republic of China
*Megaproject

References

External links

* [http://www.bcia.com.cn/ Official website] (Simplified Chinese, with [http://en.bcia.com.cn/ English version] )
*WAD|ZBAA
* [http://galeria.elarq.com/main.php?g2_itemId=12771 Gallery, architecture images.]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-R7U5pkDwo The World's Largest Airport]