Beijing Photo Gallery - Capital International Airport

Capital International Airport's Terminal 3 opened in 2008 after just 4 years of construction and in time before the Olympic Games. Despite being the world's largest airport building, the facility was designed to handle 50 million passengers a year.

The airport is served by an express railway, although the trains need to run more frequently to keep up with demand.

The departure hall is massive, although iti s a bit dark even with the large windows. Perhaps there could be more skylights or floodlights to brighten up the interior even during the day.

Terminal 3 serves both domestic and international flights.

Upon exiting security is Pier C for domestic flights.

Pier D is probably less-visited. Being the intermediary stop en route to Pier E, sometimes passengers need to take a bus to access it instead.

My international flight would depart from Pier E, requiring the use of the people mover for the long journey to the end of the line.

With unobstructed access to the windows, plane spotting here can be a lot of fun.