Beijing's new airport to serve Xiongan New Area: executive

BEIJING -?Beijing's new airport will serve the Xiongan New Area and the coordinated development of Beijing and surrounding regions, according to a company executive.

The airport in Beijing's southern Daxing District will be useful in development of the Xiongan New Area, said Liu Xuesong, general manager of the Capital Airports Holding Company, at the Beijing Global Friend Airports CEO Forum that ended on Thursday.

The Xiongan New Area, covering Xiongxian, Rongcheng and Anxin counties in Hebei Province, is about 100 kilometers south of Beijing.

The new international airport is taking shape. The steel structure of its terminal buildings is complete. A total of 30.8 billion yuan (4.6 billion U.S. dollars) has been spent so far, 39 percent of the total planned investment, according to Liu.

The airport will take pressure off Beijing Capital International Airport in the northeastern suburbs and is expected to open in 2019.

The new airport will be able to handle up to 72 million passengers and 2 million tonnes of cargo each year by 2025. It will have four runways and accommodate 620,000 flights per year.

After later expansions, the airport will be able to handle 100 million passengers and 4 million tonnes of cargo a year.