China's new $11bn 'starfish' airport, designed by Zaha Hadid, opens – in pictures

The first flight took off from the airport on Wednesday, five years after work began

The new Beijing Daxing International Airport, designed by Zaha Hadid, resembles a starfish from the air. China OUT / AFP / STR

Visitors walk at the departure lobby after the launch ceremony for the new Daxing International Airport. AP

Staff members walk past a terminal hall of the newly opened Daxing International Airport in Beijing. REUTERS

Beijing Daxing International Airport features a bronze roof, and a sprawling curved design. Courtesy Hufton+Crow

The design features glass panels in the roof to enhance natural light, Courtesy Hufton+Crow

Beijing Daxing International Airport is made up of five connected concourses. Courtesy Hufton+Crow

Zaha Hadid designed the airport the gather people around a central terrace. Courtesy Hufton+Crow

Beijing Daxing International Airport took five years to build and cost and estimated $11bn (Dh40bn). Courtesy Hufton+Crow

The airport's interiror has the clear mark of Pritzker Prize winning architecht Zaha Hadid. Courtesy Hufton+Crow

The first passengers flew from Beijing Daxing International Airport, five years after construction began. Courtesy Hufton+Crow

Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid's love of curves is visible throughout the new Beijing Daxing International Airport. Courtesy: Hufton+Crow

Beijing Daxing International Airport is the second airport in China's capital, located 46km south of the city centre.Courtesy Hufton+Crow

Zaha Hadid's design was created to bring as much natural light into the airport as possible. Courtesy Hufton+Crow

Zaha Hadid's influence is visible throughout the terminal, which is the largest single-building terminal in the world. Courtesy Hufton+Crow

China’s new ‘starfish’ airport, designed by the late Zaha Hadid, has opened its doors.

Beijing Daxing International Airport (BDIA) is located 46km south of Beijing city centre, and will initially serve 45 million passengers a year.

The first flight took off from the $11 billion (Dh40 billion) airport on Wednesday at 4.23pm local time – a China Southern Airlines A380 flight. Seven domestic airlines are already operating from the new airport, while international airlines including Cathay Pacific, Finnair and British Airways have announced routes to BDIA.

The airport is forecast to serve 72 million passengers a year by 2025, with ambitious expansion plans to take that up to 100 million, and 4 million tonnes of cargo annually.

Iraqi-British architect Hadid, who died in 2016, designed the airport in the shape of a starfish, with five connected concourses, making it the world's largest single-building airport. The 700,000 square metres passenger terminal includes an 80,000 square metres ground transportation centre offering direct connections to Beijing, the national high-speed rail network and local train services, while the airport itself boasts four runways.

The design echoes the principles within traditional Chinese architecture that organise interconnected spaces around a central courtyard. The design also allows for the maximum number of aircraft to be parked directly at the terminal.

In 2004, Hadid became the first woman to win the Pritzker Architecture Prize. She established Zaha Hadid Architects in 1980. Since then, the company has worked on projects such as the London Aquatics Centre for the 2012 Olympics Games and Maxxi – National Museum of the 21st Century Arts in Rome.

Closer to home, Abu Dhabi’s 842-metre-long Sheikh Zayed Bridge is also a design by Hadid, who took inspiration from sand dunes to create the structure’s curved arches.