Beijing Daxing International Airport

Beijing Daxing International Airport opened for operations in September 2019, following more than four years of construction. The new Daxing airport will serve as north China’s commercial aviation hub.

The Government of China announced the long-awaited approval for the construction of a new international airport in January 2013. The new airport is located in Daxing, a suburb district south of the city. It reduces congestion at the existing airport and caters to the needs of Beijing passengers.

Beijing Daxing airport was developed at a cost of CNY120bn ($17bn approximately), while the projects in its periphery attracted investments of CNY330bn ($46.2bn approximately).

It is expected to handle 72 million passengers by 2025 and up to 100 million passengers and four million tonnes of cargo upon further expansion.

Construction work on the Daxing airport commenced in December 2014 and the steel structure of the terminal was formed in June 2017.

The new airport places Beijing alongside some of the most prominent cities in the world. The airport is expected to replace Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport as the world’s busiest airport.

Beijing Daxing International Airport design and features

Beijing Daxing International Airport is built on a 2,679.01ha (6,620 acres) site located 46km south of Beijing’s political centre, Tiananmen Square.

The project included the construction of airline bases, an intercity railway, high-speed subway, highway and air traffic control tower.

Netherlands Airport Consultants (NACO), a Dutch airport consulting firm, won the bid to design the new airport’s master plan. The airport has four civilian runways and one military runway. Beijing Daxing is the first airport in the world with double-deck departure and arrival platforms.

Special care has been taken by NACO to incorporate sustainable elements into the master plan of the airport. The 700,000m² passenger terminal building features a central building with six arms, resembling a phoenix spreading its wings from the aerial view. The distance between the far end of the terminal to the centre is 600m.

Beijing Daxing International Airport will use facial recognition for secure access to the airport and radio frequency identification devices for baggage tracking. The terminal also features inquiry robots.

Operated by China Resources Land, the landside terminal of the airport consists of childcare facilities and a nursery, interactive pet hotels, hybrid online retail and dining places, and showrooms. It has 79 gates with air bridges that directly connect to the terminal.

China Southern Airlines and China Eastern Airlines will operate from Daxing Airport along with other SkyTeam Airline Alliance members.

The terminal has DALI drivers and a light management system integrated in the KNX building control system. It is installed with T-Systems solutions, which digitalises all airport operations securely.