'China Travel: Flight' ↓

Beijing’s new air terminal, Terminal 3 at Beijing Capital International Airport, reputedly the world’s largest airport building, will start trial operations this Friday, 29 Feb. 

The new terminal will have 64 restaurants, 90 shops and a high-speed commuter train that will transport passengers to the city centre. And its runway is big enough to handle the huge Airbus A380 superjumbo. Its floor space, to match up to its reputation as the world’s largest airport building,  is nearly 100 hectares.

The building, designed by the famous British architect Lord Foster, is decked out in red columns and gold roof, the typical “Chinese elements”, an evocation of the imperial palaces in ancient China.

What interests me most is that the state media hailed its world-record pace of construction – finished in under four years. But not to forget that it also means a world-record pace of destruction - more than 10,000 villages have been demolished over a short period of time to pave way for the construction.

And the fast pace is intended - to open the new air terminal in time for the Olympics in August when a huge number of visitors are expected and the current airport capacity can hardly cope.

Recently I flew to Kota Kinabalu (KK), Malaysia from the Macau International Airport with the Malaysia-based low fare airline AirAsia. A return ticket (Macau <=> KK) costs only HK$1100. AirAsia also flies between Kuala Lumpur and Macau.

The Singapore-based low fare airline Tiger Airways also has operations at Macau International airport. And Air Macau has flights to China’s major cities such as Shanghai, Beijing, Nanjing and Xiamen.

So this post is a reminder that you can consider flying from Macau International Airport to some Asian destinations, including China - some routes offer good price.

The Macau International Airport recently introduced Express Link service, meaning that you will be exempted from normal immigration procedure and can check in at Hong Kong Shun Tak Ferry Terminal (the ferry pier to Macau in Sheung Wan, Hong Kong) for your flights from the Macau International Airport. So if you leave Hong Kong for Macau to catch a flight, the service will afford some convenience.

Check out here (Macau International Airport Website) for the details.

Hong Kong is the gateway to China and understandably there are many flights each day from Hong Kong to major China cities. But flying is not cheap. A sure way to save money is go to Hong Kong ’s neighboring city Shenzhen and fly from there. As it now becomes the domestic flight, the flight ticket will cost a lot less.

The good news is, you can now check-in in Hong Kong for flights from Shenzhen Airport. The Shenzhen Airport authority has set up a flight waiting room in the shopping mall right above the Kowloon Station of Hong Kong Airport Express. After check-in, you can just take the direct bus to Shenzhen Airport from Kowloon Station via the newly opened Hong Kong-Shenzhen Wesetern Corridor port of entry (this entry is convenient as the passport control of Hong Kong and China sides is carried out under one roof - in the same building. See picture below of the facade of the building).

The aforementioned through-bus is a new service, the first of its kind, launched at the same time as the Kowloon Station check-in service. Buses depart almost every half an hour, running from 7:30am to 5pm at Hong Kong side, and from 10am to 9pm at Shenzhen side. The whole journey costs HK$90 and takes about 75 minutes.