Beijing Capital International Airport (BCIA) will be barrier-free by the end of June for the greater convenience of athletes arriving in the run-up to the Sept 6-17 Beijing Paralympic Games.

A lowered telephone booth at Beijing Capital International Airport. [China Daily]

Located in northeast Beijing, BCIA is 25 km from Tian'anmen Square in the heart of Beijing and 18 km from the Paralympic Village.

The reconstruction work will be carried out throughout the airport rather than just being restricted to the new Terminal 3 (T3), where most of barrier-free facilities have already been put in place.

Over 8 million yuan ($1.14 million) has already been spent making Terminal 2 and D section of Terminal 3, which will be used for chartered flights during the Paralympic Games, barrier-free.

T3 features more than 400 accessible facilities including lowered counters and telephone booths, barrier-free passages, rest rooms and elevators, and special paths for the blind. Other measures include special parking spaces for people with physical impairments and blinking light board indicators for people with hearing impairments.

The changes at T3 have cut processing times for Paralympic teams by 40 percent. Reconstruction work on T2 will begin soon, with a complete deadline of June 30. T2 will also feature special check-in passages, lower water dispensers and a user guide printed in braille.

Airport personnel are also receiving barrier-free service and skills training. Since last year, experts have been instructing them on rudimentary sign language and etiquette.

In January, the airport began a complete evaluation of its barrier-free services. This culminated with the "Good Luck Beijing" wheelchair basketball Paralympic test event, when the airport operated in Games-time mode to test its readiness.

BCIA will stage several more drills in May and June.