Beijing opens biggest terminal in run-up to Olympics

Beijing: Beijing Capital International Airport Co's third terminal, bigger than all five terminals at London's Heathrow, opened on Saturday, helping the city expand its air-passenger capacity as it prepares for the summer Olympics.

The terminal, designed to evoke Chinese icons such as the flying dragon and the imperial capital's Forbidden City, is the world's biggest building, housing 1.3 million square metres of floor space, according to a release from the designer, London-based architecture firm Foster & Partners.

The Chinese government has hired architects from Europe and Australia to design marquee projects to present an international image in the lead-up to this summer's Games. The terminal, like most of the Olympic venues, was completed ahead of schedule.

"Remarkably, it was commissioned and completed in a little over four years," Norman Foster, one of the architects, said.

The terminal cost 27 billion yuan ($3.8 billion) to complete, more than double what the city spent to build and refurbish sporting venues for the games.

Beijing is investing more than $67 billion on infrastructure projects including roads, subways, sports stadiums and the new terminal ahead of the country's first Olympics. The games will be held from August 8 to 24.

City image

Its 360,000 square metres of gold roof are intended to echo the imperial colour used to top the buildings of Beijing's 600- year-old Forbidden City complex. Inside, skylights set into the ceiling allow natural light to illuminate and heat the interior.

Measuring 2.95 kilometres from end to end, the terminal will double aircraft stands and will enable the entire airport to handle 76 million passengers a year by 2015, according to the National Development and Reform Commission.