Chinese Civil Aviation Development: New Beijing Airport To Handle 100 million Passengers Annually

The facility worth 6,829.1 billion FCFA is due to go operational in October 2019.

China is set to become one of the world’s largest commercial aviation markets in the coming years with the construction of a third airport in the capital, Beijing - a city of 23 million. Work on the Beijing New Airport by three construction firms that began in 2014 is due to end in October 2019 when the facility goes operational. The new airport is located between Beijing's Daxing District and Langfang in neighbouring Hebei Province. The distance is 46km from Tian'anmen Square, 67km from the Beijing Capital International Airport, BCIA and 85km from Tianjin Binhai International Airport.

During a recent guided tour by Chinese and foreign journalists, Zhu Wenxin, spokesman for the construction site, said the airport will eventually handle 100 million passengers and 4 million tonnes of cargo and mail a year. BCIA, the busiest airport in China, handled more than 90 million passenger trips in 2016, exceeding its designed capacity of 82 million passengers. The new airport proper will cost about 80 billion RMB (6,829.1 billion FCFA) and 400 billion RMB (34,150.1 billion FCFA), including accessory facilities.

There will be expressways and a 350-km-per-hour high-speed rail line linking up the new airport to Beijing. The mammoth project site employing about 20,000 workers will also be accessed by a new 160-km-long subway line with stations under the airport. Other facilities include a 500-room international hotel and a parking lot for 400 cars. The new airport is meant to also serve adjacent areas to Beijing. Passengers arriving by subway, expressway or high-s...