Beijing to welcome a third airport

China is currently enjoying a travel boom, with many people coming and going constantly from its shores. To meet demand, plans for a third airport in the capital city of Beijing have been approved.

Slated to open in 2018, the huge new airport will be less than 30 miles from Beijing’s city centre and will be connected to the city by light rail. The project represents a $13 billion dollar investment, and it is bound to help sate the region’s increasing air traffic. It will be able to handle 72 million passengers a year, making visiting China easier than ever.

The existing Beijing Capital International Airport is currently the second busiest airport in the world, handling more than 83 million passengers a year. The city’s second airport, Beijing Nanyuan Airport, is a former military airfield with limited capacity.