Xi Jinping inaugurates the ‘starfish’, Beijing's new airport

Daxing International Airport, 46 km south of the capital's center, has eight runways and is expected to be fully operational in 2025, with 72 million passengers a year.  The ceremony takes place a few days after the start of the celebrations for the 70th anniversary of the birth of the People's Republic of China.  It cost 120 billion yuan (15 billion euros).

 


Beijing (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Chinese President Xi Jinping has inaugurated the new Beijing airport, a very modern infrastructure in the shape of a starfish.  The very brief ceremony takes place a few days after the start of the celebrations for the 70th anniversary of the birth of the People's Republic of China.

Daxing International Airport, 46 km south of the capital's center, has eight runways and is expected to be fully operational in 2025, with 72 million passengers a year.  Another 100 million passengers would be absorbed by the other international airport already existing north-east of the capital.

The new structure, with 700 thousand square meters of extension - equal to 100 football fields - is perhaps the largest in the world.  In addition to the departures and arrivals plan, there is an underground plan for the railway / subway, which should allow passengers to reach the city in 20 minutes.

The project cost 120 billion yuan (about 15 billion euros);  400 billion (about 51.1 billion euros) if the cost for the railway and motorway connection is taken into account.