The airport was opened on 12 October 1991. It occupies an area of 10.8 km2 (2,700 acres). Its first runway is 3400 m long and 45 m wide, and it has 53 parking spaces on its apron. Shenzhen airport handled 52,734,934 passengers in 2023, according to Civil Aviation Administration of China, making it the fourth-busiest airport in mainland China. The airport was also the world's twenty-fourth busiest and the twentieth-busiest airport in terms of cargo traffic, registering 1,600,347.7 tonnes of freight in 2023. In terms of passenger movements, Shenzhen airport was the 5th busiest airport in China in 2018. Air China launched the first intercontinental air route out of Shenzhen, to Frankfurt Airport, Germany, on 21 May 2016. Terminal A and B primarily served domestic flights. Terminal D, the international terminal, was opened in December 2008. It had no air gates of its own, just airside bus service to distant positions around the airport. These terminals covered an area of 152,000 square meters (1,640,000 sq ft) and consisted of 24 jetways. All three former terminals were closed on 27 November 2013, with the brand new replacement Terminal 3 opening the following day. At the beginning of 2008 the 1.6 km (0.99 mi) long new terminal commenced being built as one of main works for the 2011 Summer Universiade. Designed by the architectural firm Studio Fuksas, this new terminal building was called "Terminal 3" from the beginning of construction until its formal opening. Soon after the decision of the closure of Terminals A, B and D, "Terminal 3" was renamed as it was the only terminal building in operation. The terminal was opened on 28 November 2013 after four years of planning and construction. Terminal 3 covers an area of 450,000 square meters with 6 floors (4 are above and 2 are underground). Dubbed by locals as the "giant flying fish", the terminal is a key traffic hub in the Pearl River Delta region. With 63 boarding gates, the terminal will handle approximately 14,000 passengers per hour during peak traffic and designed to handle 45 million passengers per year. A new satellite concourse, designed by Aedas, opened in December 2021. It is located directly to the north of the existing Terminal 3 building and is designed with a capacity of 22 million passengers per year. It is directly connected to the main terminal by an automated people mover (APM) system.