Opening date announced for China's new $13 billion dollar airport

Beijing Airport
Beijing's multi-billion dollar airport Photo credit: Beijing Airport Company.

Not content with a multi-billion dollar upgrade to one of Beijing's existing airports, the Chinese government has set an opening day for their new NZ$13 billion dollar aviation hub.

Although the airport hasn't officially been given a name yet, the construction company building it refer to it as Beijing Daxing International Airport, and it will open next year.

Its been named by some as the 'giant flower.'
Its been named by some as the 'giant flower.' Photo credit: Beijing Airport Company.

A lot of its design was done by Zaha Hadid, a company set up by the award-winning British-Iraqi architect of the same name, who died in 2016.

When the airport opens, it will have the ability to handle 72 million passengers each year, with the capability to be extended to a size that would see it hit an annual passenger number of 100 million, making it one of the busiest in the world.

Daxing will have four runways and 268 parking bays, enough to accommodate 620,000 flights every year. It will be comprised of 1.6 million cubic metres of concrete and 52,000 tonnes of steel and cover a massive 47 square kilometres.

The airport will also be a rail hub for those heading elsewhere in China.

The airport will be linked to other areas by hig-speed rail.
The airport will be linked to other areas by hig-speed rail. Photo credit: Beijing Airport Company.

It will have stations for high speed trains, which can travel at 350km/h, as well as subway and intercity trains.

Despite its size, the aim is to have no gate further than an eight minute walk away and for luggage to take a maximum of 13 minutes to reach the baggage claim area. 

The massive design has been described as "a giant flower made of steel".

Beijing's current national airport is already the second busiest in the world, in terms of passenger numbers.

Newshub.