The system was brought into operation in two stages. It started on February 29 with a ten percent load, which was then increased to 100 percent on March 26, 2008. More than 90,000 passengers pass through this airport every day.
The new Terminal 3 has more than doubled the previous capacity from 30 to 66.5 million passengers per year, and has made Beijing Airport an international hub. Taking into consideration the growth factor over the last 3 years, Beijing’s airport facilities will manage nearly 100 million passengers in 2012. In view of this rapid increase in passengers, BCIA already started the construction of a new international satellite D of terminal T3 in 2007 for 4.5 million passengers and are planning the construction of a new airport in the south of Beijing for 2012.

No less than 330 check-in counters are connected to a 68 kilometer, high-speed, tray-conveyor system. Out of the view of passengers, the baggage handling system runs along a number of levels inside the airport. Bags are transported through a 2.2 kilometer tunnel at a speed of 36 kilometers per hour from the check-in counters in Terminal T3A to the loading carousels in International Terminal T3B. The system consists of a combination of high-speed tray conveyors, conveyor belts and tilt-tray sorters, which are controlled by a complex material flow computer. This Siemens baggage handling system speeds up passenger clearance through departures and arrivals, and for connecting flights. This facilitates the shortest minimum connecting times (MCT) as the system requires less than 25 minutes to transport a bag from one parked airplane to another.

There are over 9,000 Siemens motors installed in this baggage handling system, which are controlled by 109 Simatic S7 PLCs. The trays are equipped with RFID tags. Siemens brought this system from the initial design stage through to commissioning in just three years. This baggage handling system at Beijing Airport is now making a crucial contribution toward ensuring that everything runs speedily and smoothly round-the-clock. Siemens ensures that the components – from the reliable conveyor technology to the carefully coordinated drive engineering and IT software – all work perfectly together to achieve the required throughput. This order was worth some 170 million euros. One of the greatest challenges was the extremely tight time schedule. Airport projects of this size normally require about five years.

Further information on Airport Logistics from Siemens Mobility at http://www.siemens.com/airports

This press release is supplemented by a photo which you can view in the Internet at: http://www.siemens.com/mobility-pictures/MO200804024