Beijing Capital International Airport (BCIA) may buy assets of the third terminal from its parent -- BCIA group when conditions mature, said Zhang Zhizhong, general manager of the group on Thursday's China Securities Journal.

"The expansion of the airport needs an investment of 27 billion yuan (3.76 billion U.S. dollars), and several billions of investment for auxiliary facilities. The listed arm of the group in Hong Kong is considering about buying the assets of the third terminal," said Zhang.

He added that the company was doing assets assessment on the third terminal.

Expansion of the pivotal airport started in March, 2004 as part of the Chinese capital's endeavors to prepare for the Olympics.

The expansion project includes the construction of a third runway, a new terminal building, 100 new aircraft parking spaces, a cargo zone and some auxiliary facilities.

The airport, China's busiest, handled 53.47 million passengers last year, putting it among the world's 10 busiest airports.

The third terminal will start operation on February 29, with an area of 986,000 square meters, more than doubling the current two terminals' total area, said Zhang Guobao, head of the leading team in charge of the expansion project, on Wednesday.

With the new No. 3 terminal building to be completed, three terminals and three runways will be in operation at the same time, expanding the airport's capacity to 82 million passengers annually and 1,700 flights per day, according to the airport.

The third runway was put into use in October 2007 as scheduled.

(Xinhua News Agency February 1, 2008)