China as begun work on what is set to be the world’s largest airport, with the first phase of the Beijing New Airport project to be completed by 2019.
The city’s second major airport will be located in Daxing District, 46km from Beijing, servicing 45m passengers annually in its first phase, before eventually expanding to 100m passengers a year, according to Reuters.
'Our worry isn't whether or not we'll have this many passengers, but whether we'll be able to satisfy demand,' assistant general manager on the Beijing New Airport construction project, Jia Zhiguo, told the news agency.
The company managing the Rmb80bn (US$12bn)construction project also owns the existing Beijing Capital International Airport, currently the world's second largest airport, which is already operating beyond capacity, Zhiguo added.
In terms of size, the surface area of the airport would be similar to the US Hartsfield-Jacksons Atlanta International Airport, and would be the world’s busiest.
Major airlines China Eastern and China Southern will relocate to the new airport once the project is completed.
