BEIJING Daxing International Airport has enjoyed smooth operation since its opening last month, an aviation official said at a press conference Saturday.

From Sep. 25 to Oct. 10, a total of 1,237 flights served about 187,000 passengers at the airport, said Liu Chunchen, an official with the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).

Starting from Oct. 27, the number of airlines operating at the airport will reach 15, including seven domestic airlines and eight overseas airlines, driving the average daily volume of flights to 280.

Apart from being an integrated transportation hub, the airport had was popular tourist destination during the recent weeklong National Day holiday, attracting a total of 470,000 visitors. The number of visitors peaked Oct. 3 at 107,800, 24 times the number of departing passengers.

A series of sightseeing facilities will be designed and constructed at the airport by learning from the experience of developed countries, said Liu.

China’s civil aviation sector expanded at a steady rate in the first nine months. A total of 500 million passenger trips were made in the first three quarters, up 8.7 percent from the same period last year, according to the CAAC.

September saw 54.8 million passenger trips handled by the sector, of which 6.06 million were made on international routes, with a year-on-year growth of 20.5 percent.

Located 46 km south of downtown Beijing, the new airport is expected to handle 45 million passengers annually by 2021 and 72 million by 2025.

The airport serves as an important cog for international passenger transfers and will improve the capital city’s standing as a world-level aviation hub.

(Xinhua)