Beijing, long served by a single major airport, is preparing to welcome a new international gateway as construction begins on a second airport scheduled to open in 2019.
Beijing Daxing International Airport will be one of the largest aviation hubs in the world, designed to handle up to 100 million passengers a year and featuring seven runways. The project is also among the most costly airport developments in China, with an estimated price tag of $13 billion.
The new airport is intended to relieve congestion at Beijing Capital International Airport, which remains one of the world’s busiest airports. Capital Airport has been handling nearly 95 million passengers annually despite an original design capacity of around 80 million.
Daxing will include an immense terminal—approximately 7.5 million square feet—planned to link seamlessly with major public transit networks for efficient passenger transfers. China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines are expected to operate a large share of the gates, enabling expanded service and hundreds of new routes connecting China with destinations across Europe and the United States.