China unveiled the world’s largest airport — Daxing International Airport in Beijing. The star-shaped terminal building is expected to handle 100 million passengers when it reaches full operational capacity.
The airport spans 700,000 square metres or about the size of 100 football pitches. Designed by Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid, it was built at a cost of $17.5 billion and uses traditional Chinese architecture to naturally lighten the terminal through the glass roof.
Beijing Daxing International Airport, an 80 billion yuan ($11.2 billion) starfish-shaped structure hailed by state media as a “new gateway” to the country, opens just in time for the People’s Republic of China’s 70th birthday. Within two decades, annual passenger traffic in China’s skies will reach 1.6 billion, according to the International Air Transport Association, more than the country’s population today. China has set a goal of having 450 commercial airports by 2035, almost double the number at the end of 2018.
The airport is powered by solar panels, has a rainwater collection system and also boasts of a high-speed rail system.
