Thursday, February 28, 2008

Beijing Unveils Largest Airport Terminal as Summer Olympics Draw Closer

by Richard York

The Beijing Capital International Airport Company is all set to unveil its third airport terminal which is larger than all the five air terminals at the Heathrow Airport in London. The opening of this air terminal will enhance Beijing’s ability to handle air passengers as the city prepares for the approaching Summer Olympics. This air terminal flaunts the traditional Chinese icons such as the flying dragon and the royal capital’s Forbidden City. The new air terminal will also become the largest building in the world that will be having 1.3 million square meters or 14 million square feet of floor space as per the London-based architecture company Foster and Partners’ release.

In order to show an international image of China in the face of the Summer Olympic Games, the Government of China has got European and Australian architects to create stunning projects that will let the whole world know what China is capable of. Like many of the venues for the Olympic Games the terminal was also completed before its schedule. One of the architects of the project Norman Foster said that it was remarkable of the project which took a little more than four years to commission and complete which is less than the time Heathrow’s Terminal five took to organize and carry the public enquiry. The total cost that went in to the completion of the new terminal was about 27 billion Yuan or $3.8 billion which is twice the expenditure Beijing invested in building and renovating the sporting venues for the Olympic Games.

The Chinese government is also spending over 27 billion Yuan that is $3.8 billion on infrastructure development projects which includes roads, subways, sports stadiums and the new terminal in view of China’s first Olympic Games hosting. China will be hosting the Olympic Games from August 8 to August 24. The golden roof of the new terminal spans about 360,000 square meters and the golden color is used to reflect the regal color which was used for the top of the 600 year old Forbidden City complex of Beijing. The inside of the terminal is fitted with skylights in the ceiling so that natural light illuminated the complex and provide heat inside the building. The terminal from its end to end is spread over an area of about 2.95 kilometers that is 1.83 miles. As per the National Development and Reform Commission the terminal’s capacity for holding aircrafts has also been doubled and by the year 2015 the entire airport will be able to manage 76 million air passengers.

The Beijing Capital International Airport Company has also said that its new terminal will have as many as 26 airlines, and the first six airlines that will be using the facility soon includes Sichuan Airlines and Qantas Airways Ltd. The other airlines will be using the facility from March 26. An analyst at Core Pacific-Yamaichi International Ltd. in Hong Kong, Roslyn Ji, said that the latest facility will alter people’s perception of the Beijing airport which was earlier known for air traffic congestion and delays in flight.

 

 

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