14 DAY TRIAL // Come 2018, China hopes to cut the ribbon on a mammoth airport terminal. The planned building, set to be erected in the country's capital city, is expected to be the absolute largest of its kind anywhere in the world.
Word has it that, when completed, the proposed structure will go by the name of the Beijing International Airport Terminal 1. It will cover an area of 700,000 square meters (7.5 million square feet) and serve nearly 125,000 passengers daily.
Just in case some of you aren't in the mood to do any kind of math today, this adds up to an astounding 45 million guys and gals passing through the promised Beijing International Airport Terminal 1 on a yearly basis.
Interestingly, Traveller tells us the airport terminal will have the potential for expansion. Thus, it could one day grow even bigger still and serve as many as 72 million passengers annually.
The terminal will be a thing of beauty
Although the planned terminal will receive thousands of people daily, architects at design firm Zaha Hadid promise that it will not feel crowded. Instead, they say that it will be easy to navigate.
As shown in the images accompanying this article, design firm Zaha Hadid imagines the terminal as having a central hub from which six curved spoke-like structures extend. Whatever spaces are left to spare will be turned into green oases.
Unlike other airport terminals, this one that will be added to the Beijing International Airport promises to create many open spaces by virtually eliminating pillars and columns.
Architects say that, courtesy of its radial design, the Beijing International Airport Terminal 1 will greatly reduce passenger transfer time. Then again, some will probably choose to hang around to admire the views.
Presently, the Beijing International Airport is only the second busiest airport in the world. The absolute busiest is said to be the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in the US, which last year received 96 million passengers.
