Beijing Capital International Airport, (IATA: PEK, ICAO: ZBAA) is the main international airport of Beijing, China. It is located 32 km (20 mi) 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.
Beijing Capital has rapidly ascended in rankings of the world's busiest airports in the past decade. It had become the busiest airport in Asia in terms of passenger traffic and total traffic movements by 2009. Beijing Capital International Airport is also the 3rd busiest airport in the world with 65,329,851 passengers passing through the airport in 2009. The airport registered 488,495 aircraft movements (take-offs and landings), which ranked 10th 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 2009, the airport had become the 14th busiest airport in the world by cargo traffic, registering 1,420,997 tonnes.
Beijing Capital International Airport is the main hub for Air China, the flag carrier of the People's Republic of China, which flies to around 120 destinations (excluding cargo) from Beijing. Hainan and China Southern Airlines also use the airport as their hub.
The Condé Nast Traveler magazine named the Beijing Capital International as the World's Best Airport in 2009, based on its multi-criteria satisfaction survey, including factors such as cleanness, speed of security/immigration clearance, clarity of signs, luggage handling, etc. It was the first time that Beijing Capital made to the top contenders list.
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, and the third largest building in the world by area.