AIR transport is booming in China as living standards increase along with peoples’ desire to travel. Indeed, it will pass the U.S. to become the world’s biggest aviation market by mid-2020s, according to the International Air Transport Association.

The country will see 1.6 billion plane journeys each year from 2037, a billion more than in 2017, the organization estimates.

The Atlanta airport in the United States can currently receive more than a hundred million passengers, but across two terminals. The current Beijing Daxing International Airport — the world’s second largest — is already overflowing, with just over 100 million passengers annually.

Work on the Beijing Daxing International Airport officially ended on schedule Sunday, ready for an inauguration Sept. 30 on the eve of the 70th anniversary of the foundation of the People’s Republic of China.

Located 46 kilometres south of downtown Beijing, the new airport will operate at full capacity in 2025, with four runways and the potential to receive 72 million passengers per year. At 700,000 square meters, the new structure will be one of the world’s largest airport terminals.

By 2040, the hub is expected to have expanded to eight runways including one for military use, and will be able to welcome 100 million passengers per year, which will make it the world’s largest single terminal in terms of traveller capacity, according to its designers.

Underneath the terminal is a train station and metro line that will allow travellers to reach the city center in about 20 minutes.

The project cost 120 billion yuan (US$17.5 billion), or 400 billion yuan if rail and road links are included.(SD-Agencies)