Shaped like a starfish - the new Daxing International Airport in China has opened billed as the biggest terminal in the world.

Opened by Chinese president Xi Jingpin, it spans one million square metres (11 million square feet) and serves as the second airport for the nation's capital.

Its first, Beijing Capital International, was running at maximum capacity by 2012, and is the second busiest airport in the world, after Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International.

Image: The terminal took just five years to build

Officials said another airport was needed and the huge structure took just five years to build at a cost of 120 billion yuan (£13.5bn) and has been designed to handle up to 72 million passengers a year.

The structure consists of six spokes coming out from the middle of the building, earning it the nickname "The Starfish".


Daxing will not only serve as an airport. Like many others around the world it will contain retail, dining and entertainment, as well as interactive pet hotels, childcare facilities and a showroom for companies.

The airport was designed by the late Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid, who also designed the aquatics centre for the London Olympics and the Riverside Museum in Glasgow.

The first commercial flight landed at Daxing at around 10am local time (2am BST) on Thursday.

Image: The site will be able to manage 72 million passengers a year

Daxing will initially house seven Chinese airlines and fly to destinations internally, but will later broaden out to international destinations.

The immigration and customs services are not yet functional, so the airport cannot initially welcome international passengers.

However, British Airways has announced that it will move all of its daily Beijing flights to the new airport in Daxing in October - the first airline from outside of China to announce the move.

Image: Flights will initially only fly to domestic destinations

Finnair, Royal Brunei Airlines and Malaysia Airlines have also announced that they will fly to the new airport in the coming months.

A new high-speed railway service was constructed to serve the airport, and will carry passengers at a speed of 250kmh (155mph) to the centre of Beijing 45 miles away.

Beijing joins a group of cities that has more than two international long haul airports - a list that includes London (Heathrow and Gatwick) and New York (Newark and John F Kennedy).