Beijing Set to Open World's Biggest Airport in 2017

China has announced plans for a new mega-airport just outside Beijing which has space to transport 130 million passengers a year - 23 million more than London Heathrow and New York JFK combined.

Plans are in place for Beijing Daxing International Airport to open in 2017, when it will eclipse competition to become the busiest airport in the world.

According to newly-released plans, the new hub will measure 55 square kilometres - about the size of Bermuda - and will have space for up to eight commercial runways.

However, despite its size, Daxing will not be the biggest airport in the world - that title goes to King Fahd International Airport in Damman, Saudi Arabia, which measures a massive 780 square kilometres.

The airport is also designed to minimise the distance travelled by planes to and from the gates, to get passengers off the aircraft as soon as possible and minimise CO2 emissions.

The latest airport plan has been released by Dutch airport consulting firm NACO, and shows an integrated 'ground transportation hub', which will transport passengers into Beijing within 30 minutes on a high-speed railway and also offer a slower route on the city's underground.

Rik Krabbendam, managing director of NACO said: 'Since the new airport will predominantly handle domestic traffic, the challenge was to fit in 100 million passenger movements on the landside areas.'

The company has now submitted a design bid for the terminal building and is waiting to hear back from China about whether it has been successful.

The current hub, Beijing Capital International, is already at capacity, with 74million passengers a year, so Daxing will provide a second hub for the capital, catering for China's ever-growing middle class.

Beijing Capital International is currently the second-busiest airport in the world, after Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson, in America, however the majority of passengers at both airports are domestic travellers.

London Heathrow has the most international passengers, with 69 million passing through the hub in 2011.

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Source 1