At 16:23 Chinese local time on Wednesday, a China Southern Airlines A380 flight marked the commencement of operations in China’s new $11 billion (£8.8 billion) mega airport, the BBC reported.
The new Daxing International Airport, Beijing, located around 46km (29 mi) south of Tiananmen Square, was unveiled Wednesday by President Xi Jinping.
With a land span of 700,000 square metres (173 acres), or 98 football fields, as quoted by state media outlet China Daily, it is expected to become the world’s busiest airport.
If so, according to Airport Council, this rating will be trailed by United States’ Atlanta-Hartsfield International Airport and China’s existing Beijing Capital International Airport.
The Daxing Airport, expected to receive a yearly passenger haul of over 170m passengers by 2025, will ease the traffic at the older Beijing International Airport — with an average yearly passenger of 100 million passengers since it opened in 1958 — officials said.
By this, Beijing has joined a group of cities, including New York and London, that have two-long haul international airports, the BBC said.
Apart from its star-shape exterior, the architectural edifice designed by Iraqi-British architect, Zaha Hadid, who died in 2016, features an exterior of seven runways and two-storey departure gates. Beneath its terminal are train station and metro line which will allow travelers to reach the city centre in 20 minutes.
China will celebrate her 70th Independence Day on October 1, same day Nigeria will mark her 59th year of independence.
Although Nigeria cannot pride herself of the gigantic Daxing Airport, the country has her international airports in Abuja, Bayelsa, Enugu, Kwara, Kaduna, Kano, Rivers, Sokoto.
The last, the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, is the nation’s busiest and largest airport — with two terminals for international and domestic itinerary.
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