China builds world’s largest airport in Beijing
The construction of Daxing International Airport has been finished in Beijing. The hub is set to become the world’s largest airport in terms of passenger numbers when it reaches its full capacity of 100 million people.
The new airport covers the area of 1.4 million square meters and the terminal’s territory is equivalent to 25 football fields. The construction and inspection of the hub, which is located 46km south of downtown Beijing, was completed on Sunday.
![The terminal building of Beijing Daxing International Airport © Global Look Press](https://cdni.rt.com/files/2019.06/original/5d18711bfc7e9370218b460e.jpg)
Daxing International Airport is currently being prepared to become fully operational. It is scheduled to open its doors before the end of September.
China has invested around $60 billion in the undertaking, project manager Li Jianhua told RIA.
The hub has been designed to reduce pressure on the overcrowded Beijing Capital International Airport. It is also set to support China’s intention of becoming the world’s largest civil aviation market by the mid-2020s, according to Xinhua.
The airport is set to serve 72 million passengers and 620,000 flights annually by 2025, and will further increase its capacity to 100 million passengers and 880,000 flights by 2040. It is therefore expected to match world’s busiest airport, Atlanta in the US, and will likely surpass it in terms of passenger throughput.
![Beijing Daxing International Airport © Global Look Press](https://cdni.rt.com/files/2019.06/original/5d187217fc7e933b218b461e.jpg)
“It is the world’s largest integrated transportation hub. The terminal building is also the world’s largest built with 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, as quoted by Xinhua.
SOURCE: Xinhua