Saturday, 1 August 2020 - 12:00 pm (CET/MEZ) Berlin | Author/Destination: Asia / Asien Category/Kategorie: General, House of the MonthReading Time: 7minutes
Beijing Daxing International Airport, located on the border of Beijing and Langfang, Hebei Province, is Beijing’s second international airport. The name of the airport was announced on September 14, 2018. It has been nicknamed “starfish“. The terminal building is one of the largest single-structure airport terminals in the world, with an area of more than 700,000 m² (7,500,000 sq ft). It was completed on June 30, 2019. The opening ceremony for the airport was held on September 25, 2019, and the airport opened to the public on September 26, 2019. The first commercial flight, China United Airlines KN5302 from Ordos, landed at Beijing Daxing at 10:12 (UTC+8), September 26, 2019.
After almost five years of construction, the CN¥ 80 billion (US$11.4 billion) facility features a 700,000 m² (7,500,000 sq ft) terminal and sits on 47 km² (18 sq mi) of land, making it one of the world’s largest single-building airport terminal. The first phase of the airport project is designed with a target of 72 million passengers, 2 million tons of cargo and mail, and 620,000 aircraft movements in the long term.
The airport’s master plan was prepared by NACO (Netherlands Airport Consultants) and will feature a ground transportation centre providing the airport with public transportation links to high-speed rail, metro, expressways, Beijing Airport Bus routes, local buses and inter-airport transportation system. The terminal building was designed by British architects Zaha Hadid Architects, French planners ADPI and partners, and executed by the Beijing Institute of Architectural Design (BIAD). It consists of a central hub with six curved spokes. The façade was designed by XinShan Curtainwall and Beijing Institute of Architectural Design. Arup was subcontracted by Beijing Institute of Architectural Design as the fire engineering consultant, while China IPPR International Engineering was responsible for security system and baggage system designs. Buro Happold, as part of the consortium, worked with the architects to integrate engineering solutions into the design of the airport. Hong Kong design studio Lead 8 was appointed as lead designer of the integrated service building (the 6th pier) in 2018. The terminal, according to Lead 8, will encompass “a purposeful design of work spaces, with integrated retail, dining, and entertainment options for the large number of passengers expected,” with plans to incorporate interactive pet hotels, a child care and nursery, hybrid online retail and dining, and a showroom for companies. Other contractors involved in the project include China Electronics Engineering Design Institute, Civil Aviation Electronic Technology, The Third Rail Survey and Design Institute Group Corporation (TSDI China), Beijing City Construction Design Research General Institute and Beijing General Municipal Engineering Design & Research Institute. Beijing TsingHua TonHeng Urban Planning and Design Institute, Central Academy of Fine Arts, Dtree, Lea-Elliot, Lighting Design Studio, and East Sign Design & Engineering were also involved in the project. Suppliers include Xsight Systems, T-Systems, Schindler, Thales, Beijing EasySky Technology and Oasys.
Construction of the airport began on December 26, 2014, and was led by chief engineer Guo Yanchi. By March 2017, the terminal had its concrete structure capped. On January 23, 2019, the first flight inspection began to be carried out and was expected to be completed in March.
The airport opened on 25 September 2019—just six days before the 70th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China—in a ceremony attended by the Chinese president and General Secretary of the Communist PartyXi Jinping. Inaugural flights from seven Chinese airlines began later in the afternoon, although flights operating out of the airport on the day were member-only, with the first official flight out of the airport an Airbus A380 operated by China Southern Airlines. Flights for the public began the following day on 26 September 2019. The first commercial flight landed at Beijing Daxing at 10:12 (UTC+8), September 26, 2019. The airport serves as the hub for China United Airlines immediately after its opening and all their services have been relocated to Beijing Daxing. Others, such as China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines, will also relocate. Upon opening of the Daxing Airport, Beijing Nanyuan Airport, the oldest airport in China, closed on the same day. A military airfield will co-exist in Daxing, as was the case in Nanyuan.
