Construction is underway on a new mega-airport in Beijing that will have nine runways to relieve existing pressure on Beijing’s Capital International Airport (BCIA), according to reports.
Beijing handled 73 million passengers last year, has an annual capacity of 75 million passengers – which has resulted in fears that the city will be at breaking point in two years time.
Beijing Daxing International airport, set to open in 2015, will be Beijing’s third commercial airport, after BCIA and the smaller Nanyuan airport – which was converted from PLA recently.
The Chinese Government previously considered developing the Daxing site to help cater for the 2008 Beijing Olympics traffic. But instead the decision was reached to build the new Terminal Three at Beijing Capital International Airport, designed by Norman Foster.
But China’s continued boom in aviation has resulted in a dramatic increase in passengers that the current facilities can not handle. In 2015, Beijing is expected to handle around 370,000 passengers a day, making it the world’s busiest aviation hub.