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Outbyte Driver Updater FREEFix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →The “starfish-like airport” is Beijing Daxing International Airport in southern Beijing. China announced the airport’s official opening on September 25, 2019. The nickname describes the passenger terminal’s radial layout; the terminal was designed by a team that included Zaha Hadid Architects, not by the firm alone.
Which airport is the starfish-like terminal?
It is the passenger terminal at Beijing Daxing International Airport, located in Beijing’s Daxing district, south of the city centre. “Starfish” is a visual nickname for the terminal’s plan, not the airport’s formal name. The European Space Agency called it starfish-shaped, while Zaha Hadid Architects describes its layout as radial.
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China’s State Council reported that President Xi Jinping announced the airport’s official opening on September 25, 2019. That milestone should not be confused with the start of commercial passenger service: the cited government report establishes the official opening date, not the date of the first commercial flight. State Council report
Who designed Beijing Daxing’s terminal?
The project is credited to a joint design team. According to the Zaha Hadid Architects project page, Beijing New Airport Headquarters led the team, bringing together ADP Ingénierie (ADPI) and Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA). BIAD and CACC were subsequently involved in delivery. It is therefore more accurate to describe the terminal as a collaborative project that included ZHA than as a design by Zaha Hadid alone.
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How does the radial plan work?
The terminal’s piers extend from a central court, creating the form behind the starfish comparison. ZHA describes the scheme as a compact radial design. The architect says this arrangement allows many aircraft to park directly at the terminal and keeps distances from the building’s centre to the aircraft stands to a minimum. Those are the design team’s stated aims, not independently measured results about passenger convenience or operating efficiency.
For construction and circulation, the defining feature is the relationship between the central space and the radiating piers: the plan gathers passenger areas around a core rather than spreading them across a long, linear terminal. The project description presents compact routes and flexibility as intended benefits of that arrangement. ZHA’s description of the radial terminal
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What are the terminal’s stated size and capacity?
| Measure | Stated figure | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Passenger terminal | 700,000 m² | Area listed on ZHA’s project page; the State Council also reported a 700,000 m² terminal in 2019. |
| Ground transportation centre | 80,000 m² | Area listed separately from the passenger terminal by ZHA. |
| Passenger capacity target | 72 million passengers annually by 2025 | A capacity plan stated on ZHA’s project page, not evidence of actual 2025 passenger traffic. |
| Expansion capacity | 100 million passengers annually | Expansion figure stated by ZHA; it describes planned capacity, not a measured annual total. |
| Runways and aircraft stands | Four runways; 268 aircraft stands | Figures reported by China’s State Council in 2019. |
The European Space Agency wrote in September 2019 that the terminal was “expected to handle more than 70 million passengers annually by the year 2025.” That was a forecast made in 2019, not a report of the airport’s actual traffic in 2025. The ESA also attributed the terminal’s design to the late architect Zaha Hadid; the project’s fuller design-team attribution is given above. European Space Agency: “Beijing’s starfish airport”
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What does “inaugurated” mean in this case?
The government record supports a precise statement: China announced the airport’s official opening on September 25, 2019. ZHA dates the built project to 2014–2019, and the State Council reported that construction began in December 2014. These are distinct milestones—construction, completion and official opening—and the cited opening report does not establish when regular commercial passenger operations began. ZHA project details
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