Fully operational in March 2008, this $3.5 billion development epitomises the word; spaciousness! Attaining a floor space of nearly one million square metres, Beijing’s Terminal 3 is truly amazing. Just to put it in perspective, it is larger than London Heathrow’s Terminals 1, 2, 3, 4, & 5 put together!
The story of China’s behemoth T3 landmark begun in November 2003 when the contract was awarded to the design team, comprising Foster and Partners (Architects), NACO (a Dutch airport planning company) and Arup (Engineers).
Before the completion of Terminal 3 estimates set future annual passenger numbers through Beijing at 60 million in 2015. But only several years later and already passenger throughput has approached 54 million per annum!
Photo: Inside Beijing Terminal 3
Not only a hub for future passenger growth, the new Terminal 3 is also a cultural symbol of China’s presence. Thoughtful touches such as coordinated lighting, mean that even when viewed from the air, Terminal 3 emits a powerful red glow; in-keeping with China’s national colours. Certainly, it is a landmark structure.Despite there only being one cargo terminal here, it is huge and processes about the same tonnage of goods each year as Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport which benefits from four additional runways compared to Beijing.
Photo: Beijing Airport Views
Map of Beijing Capital International Airport
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Further Information
- The official website is available in English: http://en.bcia.com.cn.
Technorati tags: Airport information, Beijing Capital International, PEK.
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