Swarms of visitors are descending upon Beijing for the fast approaching Olympics, including athletes and tourists. Their first impression of the city may be determined by a venue they do not intend to linger and savor-the Capital Airport. But one person is determined to make traversing the airport walkways and checkpoints a breeze.

That is Dong Zhiyi, general manager of Beijing Capital International Airport Co Ltd.

"We have always called our airport 'a new gate into our country', but President Hu Jintao's inspection tour on June 25 made it official. He described it as 'China's first national gate'," said the suave Dong, dressed in a smart suit. He added that "first" also implies that "We have to be first in the sense of responsibility, management and service. Ours is not a sporting venue, but we need to present the traditional virtue of Chinese hospitality in the work we do."

Through this "gate", around half a million of visitors are expected to arrive from foreign countries during the Olympic and Paralympic Games. It includes nearly 100 heads of state, 40 charter flights and 1,000 private jets. The 100,000-sq-m wing of Terminal 3D, known as the "Olympics Hall", has recently opened to serve this purpose. Passengers can have a one-stop service for all entry-related inspection, and have their special passes activated. For attendees of the Paralympics, all facilities have special access installed for the handicapped and all passageways are wide enough for wheelchairs. Special shuttles will whiz them all the way to the Olympic Village.

Dong pledges that as long as the aircraft is technically capable, all Olympic-chartered flights and those carrying Paralympic athletes will be able to use jetways.

Contrary to what many may fear, the special attention given to Olympic guests will not come at a cost to regular passengers, emphasized Dong. "Special Olympic flights will not compete with regular flights for resources because they have their own area." Dong's company has promised what he calls "a safe, comfortable and warm environment for boarding and landing". This means that for domestic flights, 95 percent of passengers will be able to check in within 10 minutes and international flyers will be able to do so within 20 minutes. The company says that 95 percent of all passengers will go through customs in three minutes or less unless further inspection is needed. Under normal circumstances it says that 95 percent will get through entry and exit inspection and security checks within eight minutes.

For Olympic passengers, the waiting time is even shorter: 10 minutes for check-in, 10 for entry or exit, 15 for border clearance, and 5 for security.

At a time when security is a big concern, how does Dong 's company juggle the perennial trade-off between security and convenience?

"What extra security measures we take on? We try to compensate for the lost time by shaving off minutes afterwards," explained Dong. The bio-security team scrutinizes 10 passengers as a group, and goes into thorough searches only if something fishy is sniffed out. But the number of "service ambassadors" throughout the airport has been doubled to 80 so that passengers will have an easier time getting to the gates for their flights.

Alright on the night

For several hours around the Olympic opening ceremony on Aug 8, the Capital Airport will be shut down. To lessen its impact on flights, Dong's company has made detailed plans and will cooperate with all airlines to avoid this time slot by rearranging their schedules if necessary. Contingency plans are also in place such as redirecting to a nearby airport if an international flight has to arrive during those hours.

The 46-year-old Dong has over 25 years of experience in airport and civil aviation management. Before helming the Capital Airport, he worked for 21 years in Inner Mongolia, moving up the ladder.

Dong's confidence in opening China's "first gate" for the Olympics comes partly from the opening of the Norman Foster-designed Terminal 3. Opened in two phases early this year, first for trial operation on Feb 29, and then March 26, the world's largest building - with one million sq m in floor space, and the largest airport in land size if considered an airport on its own - started operation without any glitches. Many in the aviation industry consider it a miracle, "a lucky surprise", especially in view of recent airport openings in other international metropolises. But Dong knows that luck had little to do with it. "There was no surprise. Surprise is bad, and bad news spreads fast."

To ensure the smooth transfer of operations from the existing two terminals, Dong used "reverse engineering". He said "We thought of everything that should be done. If someone found a problem, that was good news because that's one less glitch that could have happened after T3's opening."

Dong had far less time for testing than his peers in other new airports. But he pulled off this unprecedented feat. Now he is faced with the new challenge of hosting a huge international sporting event. "A new airport will take several years to get into the groove. So, I won't let down my guard," he said.

Dong won't go on vacation when the Games ends, but he said he would send his "most hard-working and frontline employees" to any vacation destination of their choice. When they pass through the Capital Airport, they will be filled with pride.