Beijing’s New Terminal Larger Than Heathrow
QANTAS will be one of the first airlines to fly into Beijing’s giant new airport terminal which opens tomorrow and, at the size of 170 soccer fields, qualifies as the world’s biggest building.
Terminal Three at Beijing Capital Airport will open its doors to passengers on Friday morning, marking the latest phase in the city’s infrastructure boom ahead of the Olympics.
The $US2.7 billion ($A2.9 billion) project will have 17 per cent more floor space than London Heathrow’s five terminals combined, its designer, British architect Norman Foster, said in comments reported in the China Daily today.
“We will welcome the first flight into the airport at around 8am (1100 AEDT),” a spokesman for the airport said.
The first stage will see five airlines moving their operations there, including Qantas and British Airways, before a further 19 move to complete the transfer on March 25, the airport said in a statement on its website.
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Foster said the terminal had been inspired by Chinese shipbuilders and colour schemes and would be the largest covered structure ever built.
“It’s so big that under a certain amount of light you can’t see one end of the building from the other,” he said.
The revamp is aimed at easing the congestion at the capital’s current airport terminals.
Officials say the world-standard facilities will dramatically improve on the current ticketing, immigration and customs processing times.
Skyrocketing demand for travel in China on the back of its saw the airport handle 48 million passengers last year, far above its capacity of 35 million.
This summer’s Olympics are expected to boost this number to 64 million, out of a capacity of 76 million, the South China Morning Post reported, citing Dong Zhiyi, deputy general manager of the company running the airport.
The terminal took less than four years to construct.
Like much of China’s boom, there has been a human cost.
More than 10,000 people have been relocated from land expropriated for the project and at least three workers have died, the China Daily said.
Other huge projects that are underway or have been completed to modernise Beijing ahead of the Olympics include a dramatically expanded subway network, a rail line from the airport to the city centre and the venues for the Games.
Source: news.com.au
Tags: Corporate Travel, Industry News, International Updates
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