Beijing Capital International Airport (IATA: PEK, ICAO: ZBAA) (simplified Chinese: 北京首都国际机场; traditional Chinese: 北京首都國際機場; Mandarin Pinyin: Běijīng Shǒudū Guójì Jīchǎng; Jyutping: Bak1ging1 Sau2dou1 Gwok3zai3 Gei1coeng4) is the main international airport serving Beijing, China. It is located 32 km (20 mi) northeast of Beijing's city center, in an enclave of Chaoyang District and the surroundings of that enclave in suburban Shunyi District. 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. Beijing Capital International Airport is currently the second busiest airport in the world (as of 2011) in terms of passenger throughput behind Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. The airport registered 517,584 aircraft movements (take-offs and landings), which ranked 8th in the world in 2010. In terms of cargo traffic, Beijing airport has also witnessed rapid growth. By 2009, the airport had become the 14th busiest airport in the world by cargo traffic, registering 1,420,997 tonnes.
Beijing Capital International Airport is the main hub for Air China, the flag carrier of the People's Republic of China, which flies to around 120 destinations (excluding cargo) from Beijing. Hainan and China Southern Airlines also use the airport as their hub.
To accommodate the growing traffic volume, Beijing Capital added the enormous Terminal 3 in 2008 in time for the Olympic Games, the second largest airport terminal in the world after Dubai International Airport's Terminal 3, and the fifth largest building in the world by area.
Read more about Beijing Capital International Airport: History, Airlines and Destinations, Accolades, Statistics, Other Facilities, Beijing Capital Airport Hotels List, Sister Airports, Photo Gallery
Famous quotes containing the words capital and/or airport:
“A good many have been thrown out on their broad capital bases.”
—John Dos Passos (1896–1970)
“Airplanes are invariably scheduled to depart at such times as 7:54, 9:21 or 11:37. This extreme specificity has the effect on the novice of instilling in him the twin beliefs that he will be arriving at 10:08, 1:43 or 4:22, and that he should get to the airport on time. These beliefs are not only erroneous but actually unhealthy.”
—Fran Lebowitz (b. 1950)