Costing more than £50 billion and as big as 98 football pitches, the brand new Daxing International airport has finally opened for business with its first commercial flights taking off today.
The airport was opened by China's President Xi Jinping on Wednesday and is set to become one of the busiest airports in the country. Estimates indicate it will be handling up to 72 million passengers a year by 2025, eventually reaching 100 million designed by architect Zaha Hadid and many have called it a giant starfish, although according to local media it is supposed to be a 'phoenix'.
It boasts four main runways and earlier today a China Southern Airlines Airbus A380 - took off at 16:23 becoming the first commercial flight to operate from the airport. A China Eastern Airlines' Airbus A350 and Air China's Boeing 747-8 also followed. Around seven domestic airlines are expected to start using Daxing in the coming days and weeks while international airlines that have already confirmed services to the new airport include British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Finnair.
The airport also has a number of environmental considerations, including harvesting 100% of rainwater, a solar farm and electrically powered vehicles.
With space for 150 aircraft at the moment, the airport is perfectly placed to take advantage of China's growing economy and popularity as a tourist destination along with Bejing's long term plan of becoming the biggest key hub in Asia.
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