The third passenger terminal of the Beijing Capital International Airport, soon to be operational, has been equipped with new technologies and facilities to meet the demands of the Beijing Olympics and increased passenger flows.

Code-named T3, it will help the airport to increase its handling capacity to 76 million passengers per year from the current 50 million. The airport, built in 1959 and expanded in 1999, was designed to receive 35 million passengers a year. But according to official figures, it received more than 52 million in 2007.

Occupying an area of 986,000 square meters, T3 is twice as big as T1 and T2 combined.

With a length of 2.9km and width of 750m, the terminal has three functional areas.

Simply decorated, the 300-counter ticket hall is a 30m-tall bright steel structure. Traditional Chinese architectural decorative elements were added to its corridors.

The T3E section is especially dedicated to the charter flights during the Olympic Games. There are 10 boarding bridges, which can serve more than 20 aircrafts concurrently. Some 60 percent of the international passengers, including the athletes and officials, are expected to take charter flights to participate in the Olympics, due to start on August 8, 2008. After the Olympics, the section will be used as a waiting hall of international passengers.

To shorten the walking distance, a 4.8km automated path was installed. In addition, such facilities as toilets for people with a disability or mothers and infants, have been made available.

The passengers can easily find Automated Passenger Movers (APM) which operate between T3 and the other two terminals.

T3 has a fast baggage moving facility with a capacity of 20,000 pieces per hour. Its moving speed is as high as 12m per second, compared with the conventional speed of 0.5m-1.5m per second.

The terminal is equipped with a "single-light guide system", the first of its kind on the Chinese mainland. The system automatically sets the taxing routes for every arriving and departing aircraft, thus saving labor and increasing the operational efficiency of the airport.

The ground transport center of the terminal is 28km from downtown Beijing. It takes just 16 minutes to bring the passengers to the city when the rail system will be in operation in July this year.

(BOCOG February 13, 2008)