Beijing Capital International Airport

Beijing Capital International Airport, (simplified Chinese: 北京首都国际机场; traditional Chinese: 北京首都國際機場; pinyin: Běijīng Shǒudū Guójì Jīchǎng) (IATA: PEK, ICAO: ZBAA) is the main international airport of Beijing, China. It is located 32 km northeast of Beijing's city center in an enclave of Chaoyang District that is surrounded by rural 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.[2] The Beijing Capital International Airport is the largest and busiest airport in China. It is the main hub for China's national flagship carrier Air China, which flies to around 120 destinations (excluding cargo) from Beijing. Hainan and China Southern Airlines also use the airport as their regional hub. Beijing Capital has rapidly ascended the ranks of the world's busiest airports in the past decade. In 2001, the airport served 24.18 million passengers and was ranked outside of the Top 30 in the world by passenger volume. By 2008, passenger volume had more than doubled to 55.66 million, making Beijing Capital the 8th busiest airport in the world. In 2008, the airport registered 431,675 aircraft movements (take-offs and landings), which ranked 21st in the world, making Beijing Capital the only Asian airport in the Top 30. In terms of cargo traffic, Beijing airport has also witnessed rapid growth. By 2008, the airport had become the 19th busiest airport in the world, registering 1,303,258 tonnes of cargo. To accommodate the growing traffic volume, Beijing Capital added the enormous Terminal 3 in 2008, the second largest airport terminal in the world after Dubai International Airport's Terminal 3.