BEIJING: A futuristic new airport in Beijing, which is expected to becomeone of the busiest in the world, was opened by President Xi Jinping onWednesday.
Xi declared the starfish-shaped airport open in brief remarks at a ceremonyinside the huge terminal, days before the country holds a grand celebrationto mark 70 years of Communist rule.
Located 46 kilometres (29 miles) south of Tiananmen Square, the BeijingDaxing International Airport will operate at full capacity in 2040, witheight runways and the potential to receive 100 million passengers per year.
The airport is seen as a fitting embodiment of the “Chinese dream” Xi hasoffered his fellow citizens.
Both foreign and domestic carriers have announced plans to move theiroperations to the new airport.
British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Finnair have already announced theirnew routes to Daxing to tap the potential of the new aviation hub.
The SkyTeam alliance, which includes Delta, Air France and Royal DutchAirlines (KLM), was expected to move over to the new airport, along withtheir partners Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines.
But when contacted by AFP last week, Delta and Air France said the decisionwhether to move airports had not yet been made.
The third largest Chinese airline, Air China, is expected to keep flyingthe bulk of its flights from Beijing Capital International Airport.
“Switching airports can be a complex decision for airlines,” said aviationanalyst John Strickland.
“Airlines would prefer to see a new airport open and overcome teethingproblems before moving services from another well tried and tested airport.”
The maiden flight from the airport is scheduled at 3.30pm Beijing time(0730 GMT), according to Chinese flight tracking app Umetrip.Soaring growth
At 700,000 square metres (173 acres) — about the size of 100 footballpitches — the new structure will be one of the world´s largest airportterminals.
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The building was designed by Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid, who diedin 2016.
Inside, it stands out for its flowing, curved lines and use of naturallight that filters down to the lowest levels of the building throughopenings on the roof.
Underneath the terminal is a train station and metro line that will allowtravellers to reach the city centre in 20 minutes.
The project cost 120 billion yuan ($17.5 billion), or 400 billion yuan ifrail and road links are included.
At full capacity, Daxing would be the world´s largest single terminal interms of traveller capacity, according to its designers.
Atlanta airport in the United States — the world´s busiest airport — canreceive more than a hundred million passengers, but across two terminals.
The current Beijing Capital International Airport — the world´s secondlargest — is already overflowing, with just over 100 million passengersannually.
“Daxing is an extension of the phenomenal growth of the aviation market inChina,” said Shukor Yusof, head of Malaysia-based aviation consultancyEndau Analytics.
Air transport is booming in China as living standards increase along withpeoples´ desire to travel.
It is expected to surpass the US to become the world´s biggest aviationmarket by the mid-2020s, according to the International Air TransportAssociation.
By 2037 the country will have 1.6 billion plane journeys each year — abillion more than in 2017, the organisation estimates. -APP/AFP
