BEIJING is aiming to double its already massive airport capacity and will be capable of processing 120 million passengers a year by 2015 with the help of a new airport in the Chinese capital.
The new facility will be the centrepiece of the Chinese government's ambitious plan to build 45 new airports over the next five years as air travel continues to explode across the world's most populous nation.
The plan comes only four years after completion of the world's biggest airport terminal, the 3.2km Terminal 3 at Beijing Capital International Airport, at a cost of 27 billion yuan ($4.2bn).
BCIA is now the world's second-busiest airport after Atlanta in the US. Both it and Chicago's O'Hare overtook London Heathrow, which slipped to fourth busiest, according to a report this week from Airports Council International.
Last year "underscored the resilience of the air transport business and resulted in over five billion passengers for the first time ever", ACI director-general Angela Gibbons said.
Asia-Pacific and the Middle East benefited from sharp rises in passenger numbers, which drove growth to 11.5 per cent in both regions, the report says.
Between 2006 and last year -- the period of China's last Five Year Plan -- 33 new airports were built. Another 33 were retrofitted or extended, four were relocated and 41 were renovated or revamped. There are 11 airports currently under construction across the country. The latest Five Year Plan, which runs to 2015, calls for a further 45 new airports.
All three terminals at BCIA were built to handle 76 million passengers and 1.8 million tonnes of cargo a year by 2015. It is already heading towards capacity after 70 million passengers passed through its gates last year. Shanghai Pudong International Airport ranks third worldwide in terms of cargo and 16 Chinese airports now have a passenger turnover of more than 10 million, compared with seven million in 2005.
China's commercial airline fleet now exceeds 2600 aircraft, an increase of more than 700 over five years, and the number of routes exceeds 1880, or 623 more since the end of 2005, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China.
Last year, Chinese airlines carried 267 million passengers (up 105 per cent on 2005) and 5.57 million tonnes of cargo (up 93 per cent) and mail (up 82 per cent).
The country is expected to be the linchpin in the aviation sector in the coming decade. China's commercial aircraft fleet is expected to almost double to 5000, passenger numbers will hit 450 million and the number of commercial airports will increase by 45 to 220.
The idea for a second international airport in Beijing dates back to 2002, after it won the right to host the 2008 Olympics, but it was decided to expand the existing airport. The new facility will be to the south of Beijing in the Daxing area.
BCIA is about 30km northwest of Beijing's centre and linked to the city by a freeway and dedicated rail line.
The new airport has been described as a regional aviation hub and travel time between the airport and city centre will be kept within 30 minutes.
