Zhangjiakou airport put into use by end of 2019

BEIJING -- The expanded Ningyuan Airport in the city of Zhangjiakou, North China's Hebei province, will begin service by the end of the year, China Railway Construction Corp, the project's constructor, said Sunday.

Reconstruction and expansion of Ningyuan Airport started in September last year, as the country geared up for the 2022 Winter Olympics which will be hosted jointly by Beijing and Zhangjiakou. Total investment in the airport is 1.3 billion yuan (about $189 million).

On completion, the Ningyuan airport will have 14 boarding gates, up from three in the past. Other new infrastructure will include a new terminal, an air traffic control tower, as well as 205,000 more square meters of tarmac, taxiways and airstrips.

A source of the airport say that they will also add new flight routes. Annual throughput is expected to reach 1 million passengers annually, and may further increase to 2.6 million, up from 300,000 currently.