Beijing Daxing: China's huge new 'starfish' airport opens its doors

The Daxing International Airport in the capital Beijing was formally opened by President Xi Jinping on Wednesday.

The airport spans 700,000 square metres, or 98 football fields, says state media outlet China Daily.

The new Daxing Airport now has one large terminal, with 268 aircraft parking bays and a total of four runways, three vertical and one horizontal. It aims to reach a total passenger capacity of 45 million by 2022, and this figure is projected to further increase to 72 million by 2025, and to even reach 100 million in the long term.

Beijing's existing airport is the world's second busiest behind Atlanta, according to the Airport Council.

But officials say a new airport was needed to take the pressure off the overcrowded Beijing Capital International Airport.

Seven Chinese airlines launched their inaugural flights from the new airport, including Air China (PKX-Chengdu/CTU), China Eastern (PKX-Shanghai Pudong/PVG), China Southern (PKX-Guangzhou/CAN), China United Airlines (PKX-Yan’an/ENY), Beijing Capital Airlines (PKX-Hangzhou/HGH), Xiamen Air (PKX-Xiamen/XMN) and Hebei Airlines (PKX-Fuzhou/FOC).

Airline operators China Southern Airlines and China Eastern Airlines had the first flights out of Daxing at 15:45 local time (07:45 GMT), said the China News Service.

And international carriers including British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Finnair have already announced routes to Daxing.

More airlines will start operating at the new Daxing Airport during the winter season on or after October 27 this year, including Juneyao Airlines and a few foreign airlines (please refer to the table below).

By then, there will be 16 airlines operating a total of 116 routes from the new airport, including 101 domestic routes and 15 international routes, to 112 destinations at home and abroad, including 97 domestic and 15 overseas destinations.

Passengers using the new Daxing Airport can expect a self-service and paperless travel experience via the self-check-in and automatic bag-drop kiosks and facial recognition, as well as radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology for luggage tracking.

The new airport, which is located around 46km (29 mi) south of Tiananmen Square, was designed by famed architect Zaha Hadid.

With the opening of the airport, Beijing has joined a group of cities, including New York and London, that have two-long haul international airports.

More than 100 million passengers have used Beijing Capital, which opened in 1958.