Preparation for the opening of the mega-airport in Daxing is going smoothly, as revealed by China Eastern Airlines during a ceremony on Monday that it has won its aircraft maintenance qualification for the new airport, the first among major airlines to get such an approval. 

China Eastern has thus far obtained certificates for the maintenance capabilities of Boeing and Airbus planes, covering models such as B737, B777, B787, A320, A330 and A350. 

It will construct a wide-body hangar in the follow-up service area, making room for the long-distance fleet of China Eastern Airlines in the Beijing market. 

In the next five years, the carrier is expected to win maintenance qualifications for all the planes that land at the airport, which would include inspection and maintenance capabilities, aircraft replacement capacity and landing gear replacement capability.

The carrier also said it is applying for maintenance licenses for foreign routes at the new airport, from bodies such as EASA in Europe, FAA in the US, and CAAS in Singapore.

The first stage of the maintenance area, which has a total construction area of 155,000 square meters, passed official inspection on June 20 this year.

The aircraft maintenance hangar has a construction area of 15,200 square meters - sufficient space for two 777-300 wide-body aircraft and one A321 aircraft to be repaired at the same time.

Other work on the new airport is also going smoothly. 

The Terminal Control Center, one of the most important projects supporting the new airport, was officially launched on Thursday.  

Construction for this control center began in July, 2017. It is not only able to meet current operational needs, but can also meet regulatory operation needs for the next 10 years. 

In addition, it will coordinate the operations of three low-altitude flights in the two airports in Beijing and one in Tianjin.

By 2021, the Beijing terminal control center is expected to command 2,900 flights per day, which will make it the busiest terminal in the country. 

The airspace area of the new terminal will be expanded to 34,500 square kilometers - nearly 90 percent larger than the current terminal control area. 

Beijing Daxing International Airport completed a second round of test flights late Monday night, testing planes flying in low-visibility conditions. 

The test flights included planes from China Eastern Airlines and Capital Airlines departing from Capital International Airport, China United Airlines departing from Nanyuan Airport, Hebei Airlines departing from Zhengding Airport in Shijiazhuang, and Chengdu Airlines departing from Chengdu Shuangliu Airport in Sichuan. 

Participating models include mainstream aircraft such as the Boeing 737, the Airbus 320, the Airbus 330, and the homemade ARJ21.

The Beijing Daxing International Airport is scheduled to open on September 30, and is expected to handle 45 million passengers annually by 2021, and 72 million by 2025. Sitting at the junction of Beijing's southern Daxing district and Langfang in North China's Hebei Province, the airport is closer to Xiongan New Area.