Work set to begin soon on Beijing airport's 4th runway

Beijing Capital International Airport, the busiest in China, will soon start building a new runway to help ease the heavy burden on existing facilities and improve flight punctuality, airport managers said.

The airport's current three runways handle about 1,600 flights each day, which is more than their intended capacity and has resulted in less time for maintenance, according to Luo Liang, head of the airport's planning and development department.

"The construction of the new runway will start soon and be finished before the end of 2017. We expect the runway to become operational in 2018," he told reporters on Friday on the sidelines of the Fourth Beijing Global Friend Airport CEO Forum.