Beijing Airport’s third runway slated to operate

The Beijing Capital International Airport will test and operate its third runway by the end of October. This will result in an efficient flight timetable and airspace capacity within the North China area of the Civil Aviation Administration of China. At the North China Regional Air Traffic Management Reform Conference on August 30, a discussion was held about the main landing airports in the North China area for the Olympic Games--the Beijing Airport, Tianjin Binhai International Airport and Qinhuangdao Airport, and the alternate landing airports--the Shijiazhuang Zhengding Airport, Taiyuan Wusu Airport and Hohhot Baita Airport. It is estimated that during the Olympic Games the peak daily flight service of Beijing Capital Airport will reach about 1,500 aircraft movements and peak hour flight movements will be about 80. In a related development, the Air Traffic Management Bureau of the CAAC was renamed as the North China ATMB. It is responsible for the administration of air traffic control, communications, radar, navigations, weather and flight information service and other related services within the North China area which comprises Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shanxi, and Inner Mongolia and occupies about 0.75 million sq. km.