The World’s Largest Airport, Beijing Daxing International Airport, Opens Today

The mammoth new airport, which is also the most expensive airport ever built, will measure more than 700,000 square feet

Beijing Daxing International Airport (PKX) is set to begin its first commercial flights this week. The airport, which is located about 50 kilometres from Tiananmen Square in the city centre, is expected to become the largest airport in the world.

The existing Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK) is reportedly hitting full capacity, which makes it logistically impossible for airlines to add more flights. In 2018 alone, more than 100 million travellers made their way through its terminals, which makes it only the second airport in the world to reach that passenger traffic milestone, after Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta in the United States.

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The greatly anticipated airport is set to deploy an Airbus A380 as the maiden flight, according to Chinese state media, and while construction was completed in June of this year, the airport only passed final inspection earlier this month.

The multibillion-dollar airport, designed by the late architect Zaha Hadid and her partners, spans more than 700,00 square feet and includes four runways, a terminal the size of 97 soccer pitches, as well as customer-service robots, all of which are made to accommodate more than 72 million passengers at one time.

A plane lands in the distance as another sits on the tarmac at the new Beijing Daxing International Airport in Beijing on May 13, 2019. - Chinese airlines conducted test flights on May 13 at a new mega-airport set to become one of the busiest in the world after it opens later this year. The tests at Daxing International Airport involved four wide-body planes, including an Airbus A380 super-jumbo. (Photo by STR / AFP) / China OUT

Above Chinese airlines tested out flights at the new Beijing Daxing International Airport earlier this year in May.(Image: STR/AFP)

This photo taken on June 28, 2019 shows the terminal of the new Beijing Daxing International Airport. - Beijing is set to open an eye-catching multi-billion dollar airport resembling a massive shining starfish, to accommodate soaring air traffic in China and celebrate the Communist government's 70th anniversary in power. (Photo by STR / AFP) / China OUT / To go with China-Aviation, Focus by Patrick Baert

Above The terminal of the new Beijing Daxing International Airport. (Image: STR/AFP)

Nicknamed the “starfish” by local media for its resemblance to the sea creature, the airport was designed to minimise how long passengers will need to commute between gates thanks to its five concourses, which join in the centre. According to CNN, Daxing was designed so that passengers will not need to walk any longer than eight minutes from security to the remotest gates.

It is expected that the airport will service 112 destinations around the globe by next spring, moving an estimated 100 million passengers and 4 million tons of cargo annually.

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Tatler Asia

The World’s Largest Airport, Beijing Daxing International Airport, Opens Today