Beijing city government has approved plans for a new airport within the next five years. It is expected to have an annual capacity of 40 million passengers. It is expected that the new airport will lessen peak travel time delays experienced at the existing international airport, which handled almost 74 million passengers last year.
Chinese media says the new airport will be located in Beijing's southern Daxing district. By 2015, the city would have an air transport capacity of 120 million people a year.
The approval of the new airport reinforces the knowledge that air travel is rapidly developing in China on the back of a booming economy. Boeing confirmed this week that China had agreed to a $19 billion contract to buy 200 Boeing aircraft for delivery between 2011 and 2013.
Source: Global Times [January 24 2011]