China’s flagship airport, Beijing Daxing International completed the construction on Sunday as per the schedule. The airport will be inaugurated on the eve of the 70th anniversary of the foundation of People’s Republic on 30 September 2019. The multi-billion-dollar airport that resembles a huge shining starfish has four runways and is capable of handling 72 million passengers every year. The airport will operate at full capacity by 2025.
By 2040, the authorities will expand Beijing Daxing International Airport to have eight runways, one of which will be for military use. This will further expand the capacity of the airport to 100 million passengers. Once developed, the airport will make the world’s largest single terminal in terms of traveller capacity. It will surpass Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in the United States that currently manages around 100 million passengers across two terminals.
With a total area of around 700,000 square metres, the airport flaunts its curved lines and lights that reach the lowest levels of building through the roof openings. It also has facilities such as metro line, train station, etc. The project costs 120 billion yuan ($17.5 billion).
For the inauguration, President Xi Jinping will review a military parade through the centre of Beijing.
It is the world’s largest integrated transportation hub. The terminal building is also the world’s largest building with a seamless steel structure, boasting the world’s first design of double-deck departure and double-deck arrival platforms, said Bai Henghong, director of the Beijing Daxing International Airport project command of Beijing Construction Group to a Chinese news organization.
In the following months, six major tests are scheduled to assess the airport’s operation readiness. There will be a total of 787 trials, including 500 flight tests and 52,000 simulated passenger trips.
Located 46 kilometres south of Tiananmen Square, the new Beijing Daxing International Airport intends to reduce the congestion at the current Beijing Capital International Airport, the world’s second largest airport that already handles around 100 million passengers every year.
Air transportation is booming in China as the living standards of the people rise. The country is expected to become the world’s biggest aviation market by 2020.
