guest star
Starfish-shaped airport in Beijing opens and could welcome 100m passengers per year
When looking for inspiration for the design of a new airport, a starfish might not seem to be among the first choices. However, the futuristic new Daxing international airport in Beijing has taken that inspiration to startling and beautiful new heights.
Unveiled days before the 70th birthday of China’s communist rule and located 46 kilometres south of Tiananmen Square, the new airport has the potential to receive 100 million passengers per year. British Airways, Cathay Pacific, and Finnair have already announced new routes to tap into the potential of the modern aviation hub with other foreign and domestic carriers planning the same.
The third largest Chinese airline, Air China, is expected to continue flying the bulk of its flights from Beijing Capital International Airport. At 700,000 square metres the new structure will be one of the world’s largest airport terminals and was designed by Iraqi-british architect Zaha Hadid, who died in 2016.