Beijing Capital International Airport

Terminal 2

Terminal 2 opened on 1 November 1999, with a floor area of 336,000 m² (3,620,000 sq ft).^[15] This terminal was used to replace Terminal 1 while the latter was undergoing renovation, cramping all airlines despite being far bigger than Terminal 1. It can handle twenty aircraft at docks connecting directly to the terminal building. Prior to the opening of Terminal 3, all international flights (and the majority of domestic flights) operated from this terminal. This terminal now houses Hainan Airlines (all international, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan flights), SkyTeam with the exception of China Airlines, which uses Terminal 3, Oneworld member SriLankan Airlines, Air Koryo, and other domestic and international flights other than those operated by Shanghai Airlines, Star Alliance members and Oneworld members. A gate capable of handling the A380 (gate 21) was also built at the terminal. Star Alliance member Air China also uses Terminal 2 for some of its domestic flights.^[16]

Terminals 1 and 2 are linked by a public walkway that takes about 10–15 minutes to traverse.^{[citation needed]}

Westwing Satellite Terminal (formerly Terminal 1)

Terminal 1, with 60,000 m² (650,000 sq ft) of space, opened on 1 January 1980, and replaced the smaller existing terminal, which had been in operation since 1958.^{[7]: 24 [15]} Terminal 1 was closed for renovation from 1 November 1999 to 20 September 2004, during which all airlines operated from Terminal 2. Featuring 16 gates, it was the operational base for the domestic routes of China Southern Airlines and a few other airlines such as XiamenAir and Chongqing Airlines, and was originally planned to handle domestic traffic excluding those to Hong Kong and Macau.^{[citation needed]}

With the opening of Terminal 3, the terminal was closed for light refurbishment, and its airlines were moved to Terminal 2 on 20 May 2008.^[17] Terminal 1 reopened for a second time on 27 June 2008, and became the operational base for all domestic flights operated by the HNA Group including those of Hainan Airlines, Grand China Air and Tianjin Airlines, while all HNA Group's international, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan flights remain in Terminal 2.^[18]

On 3 May 2020, Terminal 1 temporary closed for reproposing^{[clarification needed]}, after Hainan Airlines moved its all domestic routes to Terminal 2. The Terminal 1 was reopened on 1 August 2023 as Westwing Satellite Terminal as part of Terminal 2.^[19]

Terminal 3

Construction of Terminal 3 started on 28 March 2004, and the terminal opened in two stages. Trial operations commenced on 29 February 2008, when seven airlines including El Al, Qantas, Qatar Airways, Shandong Airlines and Sichuan Airlines moved into the terminal. Twenty other airlines followed when the terminal became fully operational on 26 March 2008.^[20] Currently, it mainly houses Air China, Star Alliance, Oneworld with the exception of SriLankan Airlines, which uses Terminal 2, SkyTeam member China Airlines, and other domestic and international flights that are not operated from Terminal 2. Star Alliance members LOT Polish Airlines, Scandinavian Airlines, Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, United Airlines, Air Canada, Turkish Airlines, Thai Airways International, Singapore Airlines, All Nippon Airways, Asiana Airlines and Air China use Terminal 3-E as part of the Move Under One Roof program to co-locate alliance members.^{[citation needed]}

Terminal 3 was designed by a consortium of Netherlands Airport Consultants (NACO), Foster + Partners, Arup and the Beijing Institute of Architectural Design (BIAD). Lighting was designed by UK lighting architects Speirs and Major Associates. The budget for the expansion is US$3.5 billion. Much larger in size and scale than the other two terminals, Terminal 3 was the largest airport terminal-building complex in the world to be built in a single phase, with 986,000 m² (10,610,000 sq ft) in total floor area at its opening.^[15] It features a main passenger terminal (Terminal 3C) and two satellite concourses (Terminal 3D and Terminal 3E), all of the five floors above ground and two underground, with the letters "A and B" omitted to avoid confusion with the existing Terminals 1 and 2. Only two concourses were initially opened, namely, Terminal 3C dedicated for domestic flights and Terminal 3E for international flights. Terminal 3D officially opened on 18 April 2013. The newly opened concourse is temporarily used solely by Air China for some of its domestic flights.^[21]

At the time of its opening, Terminal 3 was the largest airport passenger terminal building in the world. Its title as the world's largest passenger terminal was surrendered on 14 October 2008 to Dubai International Airport's Terminal 3, which has 1,713,000 m² (18,440,000 sq ft) of floor space.^[22]

On 20 July 2013, a man in a wheelchair detonated small homemade explosives in Terminal 3 of the Beijing International Airport. The bomber, reported to be Ji Zhongxing, was injured and taken to a hospital for his injuries. No other people were hurt.^[23][24]

Facilities

The T3 food-service area is called a "global kitchen", where 72 stores provide food ranging from formal dishes to fast food, from Chinese to Western, and from bakery goods to ice cream.^[25] Airport officials have promised that people who buy products at the airport will find the same prices in central Beijing. In addition to food and beverage areas, there is a 16,200 m² (174,000 sq ft) domestic retail area, a 12,600 m² (136,000 sq ft) duty-free-store area and a nearly 7,200 m² (78,000 sq ft) convenience-service area, which includes banks, business centers, Internet services and more. At 45,200 m² (487,000 sq ft), the commercial area is twice the size of Beijing's Lufthansa Shopping Center.^{[citation needed]}

The terminal provides 72 aerobridges or jetways and is further complemented with remote parking bays that bring the total number of gates to 150. Terminal 3 comes with an additional runway. It increases BCIA's total capacity by 72 million passengers per year to approximately 90 million.^[26]

Passenger

Cargo

Intraterminal transportation

Terminal 3 consists of three sub-concourses. Both domestic and international travellers check in at concourse T3C. Gates for domestic flights are in T3C, and gates for domestic flights operated by Air China are also located in concourse T3D. All international, Hong Kong, and Macau, and Taiwan flights are handled in concourse T3E.^{[citation needed]}

In conjunction with the construction of the new terminal, Bombardier Transportation installed a 2 km (1.2 mi) automated people mover which connects T3C and T3E via T3D in a 2–5-minute one-way trip.^[96] The line uses Innovia APM 100 vehicles running at 6-minute intervals at a maximum speed of 55 kilometers per hour (34 mph).^[97]

In July 2021, new Innovia APM 300 vehicles were delivered to the Beijing Capital International Airport Terminal 3 People Mover.^[98]

Interterminal transportation

The airport provides a free interterminal shuttle bus between Terminals 1/2 and 3. They operate every 10 minutes from 6 am to 11 pm, and every 30 minutes from 11 pm until 6 am. Terminals 1 and 2 are connected by a lengthy corridor.^{[citation needed]}

Rail

Beijing Capital International Airport is served by the Capital Airport Express, a dedicated rail link operated as part of the Beijing Subway system. The 30.0 km (18.6 mi) line runs from Terminal 3 to Terminal 2 and then to the city with stops at Sanyuanqiao and Dongzhimen before ending at Beixinqiao. The line opened on 19 July 2008, in time for the 2008 Summer Olympics, while a one-stop extension to Beixinqiao station was opened on 31 December 2021.^[99] A one-way trip takes approximately 16–20 minutes.^[100]

Bus

There are 18 bus routes to and from points throughout the city including Xidan, Beijing railway station, Beijing South railway station, Beijing West railway station, Zhongguancun, Fangzhuang and Shangdi. The airport buses run to each of the three terminals and cost up to ¥30 per ride depending on the route. The airport buses accept only paper tickets that are sold at each terminal and certain bus stops in the city. The airport also offers intercity bus services to and from neighboring cities including Tianjin, Qinhuangdao, Baoding, Langfang and Tangshan.^{[citation needed]}

Car

The airport is accessible by four expresses tollways, two of which run directly from northeastern Beijing to the airport. The other two connect to the airport from nearby highways.^{[citation needed]}

• The Airport Expressway is a 20 km (12 mi) toll road that runs from the northeastern 3rd Ring Road at Sanyuanqiao directly to Terminals 1 and 2. It was built in the 1990s and has served as the primary road connection to the city.
• The 2nd Airport Expressway, opened in 2008, is a 15.6 km (9.7 mi) toll road that runs east from Yaojiayuan Lu at the eastern 5th Ring Road and then north to Terminal 3.
• The Northern Airport Line, opened in 2006, is an 11.3 km (7.0 mi) toll road that runs east from the Jingcheng Expressway to Terminals 1 and 2.
• The Southern Airport Line, opened in 2008, is a toll road that runs parallel and to the south of the Northern Airport Line from the Jingcheng Expressway to the eastern Sixth Ring Road at the Litian Bridge. This highway crosses the Airport Expressway and 2nd Airport Expressway, and enables drivers on the former to reach Terminal 3 and the latter to head to Terminals 1 and 2.