China is set to open a new mega-airport to the south of Beijing, ahead of its 70th anniversary.
Beijing Daxing International Airport (PKX) will see its first commercial flight take off around September 20 with main tenant China Southern Airlines planning to deploy an Airbus A380 for the maiden journey, reported CNN.
The existing Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK) is hitting full capacity, making it nearly impossible for airlines to add flights at desirable times. China is projected to overtake the United States as the world's biggest air travel market by 2022.
The multibillion-dollar Daxing, designed by the late architect Zaha Hadid and her Chinese partners, boasts of four runways and a terminal the size of 97 soccer pitches upon the opening of the first phase -- as well as customer-service robots that will provide travellers with flight updates and airport information.
The modest initial operational target is to accommodate 72 million passengers and 2 million tons of cargo annually by 2025.
Construction for the USD 11.5 billion project began in 2014.