Beijing's new airport takes off

Beijing has opened a huge new £1.8 billion airport terminal today ahead of this summer's Olympics.

The terminal's two mile long concourse, which is divided into three sections and connected by a shuttle train, will boost capacity at the airport to 76 million compared with the 52 million who used the airport last year.

The new airport terminal is supposed to resemble a dragon, complete with triangular windows cut into the ceiling as though they were scales. It was designed by British architect Sir Norman Foster, who also designed Hong Kong's Chep Lap Kok airport.

It has almost double the number of boarding gates of the old terminals and nearly 300 check-in desks. The terminal has been built to maximise the use of natural light, with walls of glass.

Air travel in China is booming, on the back of growing tourism and rising domestic incomes, with 200 million passengers expected to take to this skies this year, up from 185 million last year.
The country plans to build nearly 100 new airports by 2020 to cater for this demand, many in remote, economically backward areas.

Six airlines will use the new terminal initially, including British Airways, Sichuan Airlines, Shandong Airlines, Qatar Airways, Qantas and El Al Israel Airlines.

More will move in from March 26, including Air China, Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines, Air Canada and other Star Alliance members, as well as Emirates and Hong Kong's Dragonair.

The terminal also has special bridges to handle Airbus's giant double-decked A380 superjumbo.

(via Flightmapping)