The Capital International Airport's terminal three, built at a cost of 2.7 billion USD (2.4 billion euros) went into operation early this morning.

The first flight to touch down was a plane from Jinan to Beijing at 8:50 am local time. The first international flight to take off will be a British Airways flight to London.

According to AFP, five airlines have already began operating from the new terminal and 19 more are planning to complete the transfer by March 25.

The terminal, which was designed by British architect Norman Foster, will be able to handle 1,590 take-offs and landings daily when fully operational.

With the Olympic Games in August, Beijing is expecting to receive 60 million visitors this year. The new terminal is expected to relieve the delays and queues that characterize air travel in China, the news agency said.

Air travel in China has increased by 16 percent to 185 million passenger trips last year. Around 210 million passenger trips are expected to take place in 2008.

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