Beijing Airport splits traffic: Hong Kong, Seoul, Shanghai race to be Asia's 100 million pax airport

Slower than expected reform of airspace and movement growth at Beijing Capital airport has meant that Asia's largest airport has not, as forecast, overtaken Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson as the world's largest airport. A growth streak in 2015 allowed Atlanta to become the world's first airport to handle over 100 million passengers a year. The future largest airports are expected to be in Istanbul and Dubai, but with those projects some time away from full implementation the next airport to cross the 100 million mark may come from Asia.

If Beijing Capital's growth of recent years continues it could cross the 100 million mark in 2019 - but in that year the opening of the city's second international airport, Beijing Daxing, is expected. China has made official its plan for China Eastern and China Southern and their partners to move to Daxing, while Air China and its partners remain at Capital. The split means that Beijing Capital may not cross the 100 million mark in the near future. Even if growth accelerates, Beijing will hold the title only briefly.

Recent weeks have seen spurts of capacity growth. Tokyo has finalised plans to increase Haneda capacity in preparation for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, while Hong Kong has started construction of its third runway. Other Asian hubs - Guangzhou, Seoul Incheon, Shanghai Pudong, Singapore Changi - could put through 100 million passengers towards the late 2020s to 2030s. 100 million passenger airports will test airport management and strengthen the need for airport-airline partnerships.