Photographer: BJNews/ICHPL Imaginechina via AP Photo
Beijing’s Giant New Airport Helps China Rival U.S. in the Skies
- New site may mean dozens of new routes to Europe and the U.S.
- China plans to develop Beijing as an international transit hub
Just five years ago, Daxing was a dusty area of farmland to the south of Beijing, largely neglected by visitors to the city. That’s no longer the case, now that an enormous airport has emerged there to thrust China even closer to toppling the U.S. as the world’s biggest aviation market.
Beijing Daxing International Airport, an 80 billion yuan ($11.2 billion) starfish-shaped structure hailed by state media as a “new gateway” to the country, opens just in time for the People’s Republic of China’s 70th birthday. A state-of-the-art terminal designed to eventually handle more than 100 million passengers a year is symbolic for President Xi Jinping, who faces a raft of challenges, including a trade war with the U.S., a slowing economy and mass protests in Hong Kong.