The Capital Airport Co. Ltd in Beijing said construction of a third terminal of the Beijing Airport would break ground on March 28 as scheduled.

The Beijing Architectural Design Institute has been working on the design of the new terminal, said a spokesman for the company, who disclosed that builders of the new terminal were to be chosen via public bidding.

The projected terminal will be completed and put in operation before 2007. With the completion of the third terminal, the Capital Airport will be capable of handling 60 million journeys, plus 500,000 to 600,000 flights, as well as 2 million to 3 million tons of cargo and mail a year.

The airport handled 24.36 million journeys, accomplished 2.18 billion yuan (US$263 million) in operating revenue and made a profit of 380 million yuan last year.

(Xinhua News Agency March 3, 2004)