Smooth check-in access at new airport

BEIJING: The capital of China, will embrace a new airport in 2019.

The six pointed starfish-shaped airport has attracted extensive attention since it began construction in 2014.

Its design will make it more convenient for arriving passengers to access both connecting flights and public transport.

Seventy-eight gates will be set up within five of the six airport arms and will include the Capsule Hotel.

Zhu Wenxin, a staff of airport’s construction team unveiled the design last week.

The airport will reach 1,144m from east to west in length, and the width 996m from north to south.

There will be five airside concourses and one central hall. The top floor of the airport will serve international departures and the ground floor domestic services.

The airport railway will be built under the airport, Zhu revealed.

According to the introduction, a total of four runways will be completed during the first phase of construction and the new airport will see a 13,000sq-m commercial area in the centre of the starfish-shape.

The highlight of the new airport will be its convenient transport system.

Located under the airport, the ultra-modern transport centre will cover 340sq-m, almost the same size of the Beijing railway station.

If domestic travelling passengers arrive by train, they will not need to check in at the domestic departure hall, but rather enter the security check near the airport railway.

A commercial district will accompany the new airport when it opens. The commercial district will be developed within the 13,000sq-m area. The Guardian, a British newspaper, referred to the new airport a one of the “new seven wonders of the world” in 2015.

The new Beijing airport will be the largest in the world.

Currently, Beijing Capital International Airport, in northeast of the city, is the world’s second busiest airport in terms of passenger volume.

Three hundred flights each day and nearly 10 million passengers each year are diverted to other airports. This is due to its limited capacity to handle flights.