Xi opens huge Daxing airport in Beijing

Beijing's new flight hub started operations on Wednesday, giving travelers an alternative to the city's overburdened Capital International Airport.

The new airport, dubbed Daxing, is reportedly the biggest airport in the world by surface area. It covers some 70 hectares (173 acres), but its starfish-shaped structure was purposely designed to shorten walking times for passengers.

Iraqi-born architect Zaha Hadid designed the hub before her death in 2016. The airport took less than five years to build after starting construction in late 2014. Authorities hope it would handle up to 72 million passengers per year by 2025 and around to 100 million upon reaching full capacity in 2040.

At the Wednesday ceremony overseen by President Xi Jinping, Chinese officials hailed it as a "new powerful source of national development."

Billions for airport, more for traffic links

While reports vary on the construction's cost, the AFP news agency reported expenses reached some 120 billion yuan ($16.9 billion, €15.3 billion) for the airport and another 280 billion yuan to build new rail and road links.

Travelers taking an express train from Daxing would take some 20 minutes to reach the city. Daxing is located about 46 kilometers (29 miles) south from Beijing's downtown, which is almost twice as far as the old airport in the city's northeast.

The opening ceremony comes just days before China is set to mark a 70-year-anniversary of its Communist state. China is set to overtake the US as the world's largest aviation market by 2022.

dj/ng (Reuters, AFP, dpa)

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