China: Beijing Daxing hits 10m passenger mark, a year after opening

Passenger throughput at Beijing’s newest airport, Daxing International, hit the 10m mark on Tuesday, nearly a year since the facility commenced operations. The airport, which opened late September last year, adds that it expects total passenger throughput by the end of the year to be around 16m passengers. The news comes amid the backdrop of the coronavirus outbreak, which originated in China, but has since been by brought under control by the Chinese government. It also comes as domestic air travel in China is seeing a post-pandemic recovery, with carriers offering steep discounts to stimulate travel demand. Daxing airport began operations on 25 September last year, five days ahead of its scheduled opening date. With four runways, it is dubbed the world’s largest single-terminal airport building. Fully operational, it is expected to handle more than 70m passengers a year, with targets to increase that to 100m a year. The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) notes that the number of flights a day now at Daxing is in excess of 660, with the number of passengers a day more than 92,000. The airport sees 18 Chinese carriers operating from it, including China Southern, which is using the airport as its Beijing hub. International carriers that are operating out of Daxing include Finnair, British Airways, as well as Royal Brunei Airlines.<br/>