A futuristic new airport in Beijing, which is expected to become one of the busiest in the world, has just been opened by President Xi Jinping.

Located 46 kilometers south of Tiananmen Square, the Beijing Daxing International Airport will operate at full capacity in 2040, with eight runways and the potential to receive 100 million passengers per year.

At 700,000 square meters – about the size of 100 football pitches – the new structure will be one of the world’s largest airport terminals, as reported by RTE.

The building was designed by Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid, who died in 2016. Inside, it stands out for its flowing, curved lines and use of natural light that filters down to the lowest levels of the building through openings on the roof.

Underneath the terminal is a train station and metro line that will allow travelers to reach the city center in 20 minutes. The project cost $17.5bn.

It is expected to surpass the US to become the world’s biggest aviation market by the mid-2020s, according to the International Air Transport Association.

By 2037 the country will have 1.6 billion plane journeys each year – a billion more than in 2017, the organization estimates.