Beijings Starfish Shaped Airport Set to Open In September

Beijing, the socio &ndash political centre of China is nothing less than a visual spectacle and attracts hordes of tourists every year. The city never fails to surprise us. Be it with the historic Great Wall of China or the Imperial Palace and with the completion of the construction of the Daxing airport, tourists are in for a treat.

Beijing&rsquos Daxing airport that resembles a massive starfish is all set to open its doors on September 30, on the eve of the 70^th anniversary of People&rsquos Republic of China. Sprawling across an area of 700, 000 square meters, this airport is touted to be one of the largest and busiest airports in the world. The multibillion dollar airport is expected to have seven runways and will be able to accommodate 45 million passengers by 2021 and 72 million passengers by 2025.

It is located 46 kilometres south of Tinanmen Square and was designed by late Anglo &ndash Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid. With a total investment of around US$ 17.5 billion dollars, what makes the building unique is the flowing, curved lines and the use of lights that filter down to the lowest levels of the building through the openings in the roof. The airport has been designed to not only accommodate more aircrafts but also to minimize the hassles of reaching the terminal gates. It now takes less than 8 minutes to walk from the security checkpoint to the farthest gates.

The airlines that are expected to move to the new airport include Delta Air France, KLM, Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines.

Aviation sector is booming in China and with the people&rsquos increasing desire to travel more, it is expected to reach new heights.