Beijing, China - Capital Airport - official postcard c.1980s

• Postcard

   

• Picture / Image:  Capital Airport, [Beijing, China]
• Publisher: Civil Aviation Administration of China
• Postally used: no
• Stamp:  n/a
• Postmark(s): n/a
• Sent to:  n/a
• Notes / condition: 

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Text from the free encyclopedia WIKIPEDIA may appear below to give a little background information (internal links may not  work) :

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Beijing Capital International Airport (IATA: PEK, ICAO: ZBAA) is the main international airport serving Beijing. It is located 32 km (20 mi) northeast of Beijing's city centre, in an enclave of Chaoyang District and the surroundings of that enclave in suburban Shunyi District.[5] The airport is owned and operated by the Beijing Capital International Airport Company Limited, a state-controlled company. The airport's IATA Airport code, PEK, is based on the city's former romanized name, Peking.

Beijing Capital has rapidly ascended in rankings of the world's busiest airports in the past decade. It had become the busiest airport in Asia in terms of passenger traffic and total traffic movements by 2009. It has been the world's second busiest airport in terms of passenger traffic since 2010. The airport registered 557,167 aircraft movements (take-offs and landings), ranking 6th in the world in 2012.[3] In terms of cargo traffic, Beijing airport has also witnessed rapid growth. By 2012, the airport had become the 13th busiest airport in the world by cargo traffic, registering 1,787,027 tons.[3]

Beijing Airport was opened on 2 March 1958. The airport then consisted of one small terminal building, which still stands to this day, apparently for the use of VIPs and charter flights. On 1 January 1980, a newer, larger Terminal 1 – green in colour – opened, with docks for 10 to 12 aircraft. The terminal was larger than the one built in the 1950s, but by the mid-1990s, its size became relatively inadequate.

The first International flight to China and Beijing Capital International Airport was of Pakistan International Airlines from Islamabad.

In late 1999, to mark the 50th anniversary of the founding of the PRC, the airport experienced a new round of expansion as Terminal 2 opened on 1 November of that year. Terminal 1 was then temporarily closed for renovation after the opening of Terminal 2. 20 September 2004 saw the opening of a renovated Terminal 1, which at that time solely handled China Southern Airlines' domestic and international flights from Beijing.[6] Other airlines' domestic and international flights still operated in Terminal 2.

Another round of expansion started in 2007. A third runway opened on 29 October 2007, to relieve congestion on the other two runways.[7] Terminal 3 (T3) was completed in February 2008, in time for the Beijing Olympics. This colossal expansion also included a rail link to the city-center. At its opening, the new Terminal 3 was the largest man made structure in the world in terms of area covered, and a major landmark representing Beijing as the growing and developing Chinese capital. The expansion was largely funded by a 30 billion yen loan from Japan and a 500-million-euro (USD 625 million) loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB). The loan is the largest ever granted by the EIB in Asia; the agreement was signed during the eighth China-EU Summit held in September 2005.[8]

Fresh from hosting the 2008 Summer Olympics and adding its new terminal building, Beijing Capital has overtaken Tokyo Haneda to be the busiest airport in Asia based on scheduled seat capacity.[9]

Due to limited capacity at Beijing Capital International Airport, a new airport in Daxing is being planned. The project was given final approval on 13 January 2013. Construction began in late 2014 and is expected to be completed in 2019.[10] The new airport will serve as a hub for SkyTeam alliance airlines (except China Eastern Airlines)[11], while Star Alliance members will stay at Beijing Capital International Airport. Hainan Airlines, which accounted for 10% of Beijing Capital International's passenger seat capacity in 2016, but is not part of any major alliance, will stay at the existing capital airport.[12]