Beijing Capital International Airport will receive some 100,000 Olympic
family members and it has fully prepared for their arrival as the peak of
arrival comes, a Beijing Olympic organizing committee official said yesterday.
He Yan, secretary general of the Beijing Capital International Airport Venue
team of the organizing committee, said though his team only began receiving
accredited Olympic members on July 8, a number of accredited personnel arrived
as early as June, before the service period of the organizing committee.
"Up to now, some 1000 Olympic family members, both within and out of our
service period, have arrived, mainly from the media," said He.
He said the peak of arrival has just begun. On July 20-30, the arrival will
gradually reach its peak, and from July 31 to August 7, it will shoot up
further. The arrivals include VIPs, officials, athletes, media personnel and
sponsors.
Small groups of foreign athletes have being arrived sporadically these days,
but chartered planes of delegations will not come before July 27, according to
He.
The arrival of such a large number of Olympic guests is a challenge to the
host nation and the capital airport is fully mobilized to meet the challenge, He
said.
As an innovative measure in Olympic history, He's team had provided foreign
planes with specially-made DVDs showing in real-scene the full process of
Olympic members' entry and departure at the airport. The DVDs, which are shown
on these planes, give passengers a picture of what they will go through at the
airport in advance.
Other measures include a welcome center set up at the airport where
volunteers offer information and guidance to comers. Exclusive Olympic lanes are
also set up at sites such as the border check, inspection and quarantine, and
customs to ensure Olympic members' easy passage.
Some 2200 volunteers, all college students in Beijing, will serve at the
capital airport during the Games. In peak time, there will be about 500 of them
on duty daily. They will serve Olympic guests in eight languages, according to
He.