Already home to the world's largest dam, longest ocean crossing and most extensive

high-speed rail network, the country has now completed one of the largest airports ever conceived.

Home to one of the world's largest economies, the demand for air travel in and out of China is extreme.

As the nation's centre of political power - and as the second-largest city in a country

of more than 1.3BN people - the pressure on Beijing is particularly intense.

Plans for a second international airport were first proposed in 2008, while the existing

Beijing Capital International was undergoing a USD $3.5BN expansion ahead of the summer

Olympic Games.

Despite these works, forecasts predicted that, even with its expansion to cater for 83 million

passengers annually, the airport would exceed its capacity within just a few years of the

extension being completed.

Sure enough, the facility reached capacity in 2012 and by 2016 more than 100 million

passengers were travelling through the airport each year.

To alleviate pressure on the existing airport and safeguard Beijing's economic growth,

a new hub was conceived.

With initial proposals suggesting nine runways and capacity for more than 200 million passengers

each year, the vast Daxing International was originally intended to replace Beijing Capital

as the city's main airport.

However, in 2014 the decision was taken to operate both facilities simultaneously and

to scale back the new airport's design.

Initially constructed with four runways and capacity for 72 million passengers each year,

Daxing International can be expanded to seven runways and could serve up to 100 million

passengers annually when fully developed.

Plans for the new airport were released by Zaha Hadid Architects in early 2015.

Collaborating with airport specialists ADPI on the main terminal building, Hadid moved away from the

linear model of airport design - which often created sprawling facilities - and instead

introduced a six-pointed star arrangement that puts passengers less than 600 metres

- around an 8-minute walk - from any departure gate.

While one arm of the building operates as an administrative centre, the remaining five

accommodate the airport's 79 departure gates.

Daxing International incorporates a number of high-speed rail and metro links to Beijing

and the surrounding provinces.

The airport will have a dedicated stop on the new Beijing-Xiong-an Intercity Railway

- placing it just 20 minutes from Beijing - while the Intercity Railway Connector will

provide a direct link to Beijing Capital International and neighbouring regions.

There will also be a link to the city's subway system.

While many airport links around the world deliver passengers to the outskirts of facilities,

the numerous connections to Daxing International will arrive beneath the terminal, enabling

direct access to the departure levels.

In order to withstand the vibrations caused by high-speed trains that can travel up to

250km/h beneath the terminal in an active seismic zone, 1,000 anti-seismic isolation

bearings were built into the terminal's ground floor slab allowing the structure to

withstand an earthquake with a magnitude of 8.0 on the Richter scale.

With 197,000 passengers expected to use the airport each day, Daxing International will

operate a largely “paperless” system that features AI facial recognition at check-in,

self-service bag drop facilities and real-time mobile baggage tracking.

It will also be the first airport in the world to operate vertically stacked dual departure and arrival floors.

This approach enables faster check-in and security screenings while significantly reducing

the distances that passengers travel between connecting flights.

Extending for over a million square metres, Daxing International's terminal building

is one of the largest single structures ever built.

Formed from over 1.6 million cubic metres of concrete and some 52,000 tonnes of steel,

the building integrates photovoltaic (PV) panels and rainwater harvesting systems across

its vast undulating roof.

Reaching practical completion in 2018, the first flight inspections took place in January

2019 while finishing touches were made to the terminal building's interior.

While the airport offers many of the retail, dining and entertainment options found in

most hubs, Daxing International will also feature an interactive pet hotel, childcare

and nursery facilities and hybrid online retail and dining experiences for passengers.

Meanwhile, on the runways, aircraft taking off and landing will be protected from birds

or civilian drones by an Israeli AI software monitoring system.

The entire airport cost almost USD $12BN to deliver. While this makes it easily one of

the world's largest construction projects, it is notably less than the projected USD

$17BN required to construct a third runway at London Heathrow.

Having now completed its operational testing, Daxing International is set to welcome its

first flight on 30 September 2019, less than five years since construction works first began.

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