CHINESE President Xi Jinping announced the grand opening of Beijing’s Daxing International Airport, one of the world’s largest, yesterday.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China issued the operational certificate to the Daxing airport authority shortly before noon, meaning commercial flights could take off and land at the airport.

Chinese Vice Premier Han Zheng said at the launch ceremony that the Daxing airport is expected to enhance the international competence of China’s civil aviation industry, help the nation’s opening up, rebalance the non-capital function of Beijing as well as promote the integrated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area.

“Safety, comfort and convenience should become the focus of the new airport,” Han said.

An Airbus 380, the world’s biggest airliner, operated by the China Southern Airlines, took off from the mega airport at 4:23pm. It landed at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport around 7pm.

Later, other major domestic carriers including China Eastern, Air China and China United Airlines, also took off from the new airport.

Zhang Tao, 50, the most senior captain with China Southern and a trainer for A380, piloted the Superjumbo from the new airport. “Though I’ve over 19,000 flying hours, this flight is my most unforgettable flight,” Zhang said. “The visibility is great and the aircraft took off steadily and smoothly,” he added.

The airport, considered a marvel of China’s logistical planning, architecture and economic integration, is located near the junction of Beijing’s Daxing District and Langfang in north Hebei Province.

It is at a central locality in north China, about 46 kilometers away from the Tian’anmen Square, 55 kilometers away from Xiongan New Area and 82 kilometers from Tianjin.

The airport is designed to resemble the shape of a feather from a phoenix, a bird-like creature from ancient Chinese mythology. It aims to meet the country’s soaring air-service demand and relieve pressure on Beijing’s existing Capital International Airport.

Covering a land area of 47 square kilometers, the new airport is double the size of the Capital International Airport, which is currently the largest in China. It boasts a terminal equivalent to the size of 97 soccer pitches along with faster security check and boarding procedures powered by facial recognition and artificial intelligence.

It is expected to handle 45 million passengers annually by 2021 and 72 million by 2025, making it one of the busiest airports in the world, on par with Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in the United States.

Four runways are operating in the first phase, with a total of seven runways planned to handle the growing number of air travelers to and from the capital.

In 2018, more than 100 million travelers passed through the three terminals of the capital international airport, making it one of the busiest in the world.

An east-west runway, being almost vertical to three south-north runways, only handles takeoff aircraft to improve operational efficiency in the air and double its hourly capacity to 60 airliners, said Yan Xiaodong, an official with the air traffic controller for north China.

Construction on the US$11.3-billion-project began in 2014, with more than 40,000 workers on-site at its peak.

Nicknamed the “starfish” for the shape of its five extending structures connected to the main hall, the airport aims to reduce walking for passengers. The distance between security checkpoints to gates is no more than 600 meters, equal to about eight minutes of walking.

The five extending hallways also allow a total of 79 aircraft to berth, more than other airports in the same size, said Wang Qiang, who is in charge of the planning and designing of the project.

The five-story terminal building, with two underground levels, is said to be the world’s largest stand-alone terminal building, featuring eight C-shaped pillars to support the megastructure, while also allowing plenty of natural light through more than 8,000 rooftop windows.

The windows, designed according to the climate, can bring natural light to 70 percent area of the terminal, while protecting 60 percent of the heat radiation during the hottest period between noon and 2pm to largely reduce the energy consumption, Wang said.

Two departure levels have been designed for the terminal to handle the large number of expected travelers. A subway system connecting the airport with Beijing’s city center is located in the underground of the terminal.

The new subway connection for the Daxing airport opened on September 15. It links the airport to Caoqiao Station, which is 41km away from the airport and close to downtown Beijing. Running at 160kmph, the train will take 19 minutes to reach the city from the airport.

Passengers can check their luggage in six hours before their flight at the terminal building at the Caoqiao Station. Two counters for international flights and another two for domestic routes have been opened at the station.

The subway trains have specialized luggage compartments to ensure the safety and accuracy, said Yang Ke, operational deputy manager at the subway station.

An express highway built for the Daxing airport also connects directly to the terminal building, along with other expressways and railway system to compose an integrated transportation hub.

The airport, along with the operating airlines, has installed over 400 self-service check-in and luggage machines, accounting for 80 percent of all the airport’s check-in facilities. Passengers no longer need to print a boarding card, but can pass through security checks and board aircraft by scanning their faces.

Thanks to the new technology, the security check standpoints at the new airport can handle 260 travelers per hour, compared with the 180 average capacity in other major domestic airports. Passengers are expected to spend no longer than five minutes to finish security checks even during peak hours.

The Shanghai-based China Eastern has also launched the world’s first electronic luggage tag, which allows travelers to check-in and track their bags via their mobile phones.