The project's architect Sir Norman Foster said the terminal will have 17 per cent more floor space than London Heathrow's five terminals combined. -- PHOTOS: AP

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Terminal Three at Beijing Capital Airport - which is the size of 170 soccer fields - will open its doors to passengers on Friday morning, less than four years after construction began.

A spokesman for the airport said it will welcome he first flight at around 8am Singapore time.

The first stage will see five airlines moving their operations there, including British Airways and Qantas, before a further 19 move to complete the transfer on March 25, the airport said in a statement on its website.

The US$2.7 billion (S$3.78 billion) project will have 17 per cent more floor space than London Heathrow's five terminals combined, its designer, British architect Norman Foster, said in comments reported in the China Daily on Wednesday.

Mr Foster said the terminal had been inspired by Chinese shipbuilders and colour schemes and would be the largest covered structure ever built.

'It's so big that under a certain amount of light you can't see one end of the building from the other,' he said.

The revamp is aimed at easing the congestion at the capital's current airport terminals.

Officials say the world-standard facilities will dramatically improve on the current ticketing, immigration and customs processing times.

Skyrocketing demand for travel in China on the back of its saw the airport handle 48 million passengers last year, far above its capacity of 35 million.

This summer's Olympics are expected to boost this number to 64 million, out of a capacity of 76 million, the South China Morning Post reported, citing Dong Zhiyi, deputy general manager of the company running the airport.

Like much of China's boom, there has been a human cost. More than 10,000 people have been relocated from land expropriated for the project and at least three workers have died, the China Daily said.

Other huge projects that are underway or have been completed to modernise Beijing ahead of the Olympics include a dramatically expanded subway network, a rail line from the airport to the city centre and the venues for the Games. -- AFP