Construction of Beijing’s new international airport is progressing smoothly, with 60 percent of the concrete work finished. It will be put into operation in 2019, according to Zhu Wenxin, spokesperson for the construction team working on the airport.

Convenient transportation

The new airport will facilitate more convenient transportation. Located in Beijing's Daxing district, the airport is 46 kilometers south of Tiananmen Square and 67 kilometers away from Beijing Capital Airport. Through expressways, intercity rails and high-speed rails, passengers can reach Tianjin, Baoding and Tangshan in one hour; Shijiazhuang, Jinan and Qinhuangdao in about two hours; and Taiyuan, Zhengzhou and Shenyang in three hours.

Innovative runways

There will be four main runways at the new airport - three vertical and one horizontal. This is the first time that this particular pattern has been adopted in China. The pattern will help shorten flight times and reduce delays, according to Zhu.

Annual capacity of 100 million passengers

According to its design, the airport will be able to handle 72 million passengers and 2 million tons of cargo by 2025. In the long term, its capacity will stretch up to 100 million passengers per year. Total investment for the current phase of construction is 80 billion yuan ($12 billion).