Keep out: social media photographers told to stay away from Beijing’s new Daxing airport
- The US$11 billion airport flew 5,667 travellers out on the first day of ‘golden week’, but report says there were 85,000 visitors through the door that day
Police are telling camera-happy social media snappers to stay away from the newly opened Beijing Daxing International Airport because they are a safety risk to travellers, state broadcaster CCTV said on Thursday.
The airport, which was officially opened by Chinese President Xi Jinping last week, has become a magnet for thousands of people wanting to take photos inside and outside the huge star-shaped building.
About 15,000 people on average had visited the airport each day since it opened to take photographs, the report said. The week-long National Day public holiday made matters worse for security staff.
While 5,667 travellers flew out of the airport on Tuesday, the start of “golden week”, 85,000 people entered it, the report said, citing airport figures. Police claimed that this surge of visitors could threaten travellers’ safety and that it had to stop immediately.
“The first category of this phenomenon is tourists spending a long time taking photos in the passenger drop-off area in front of the airport entrance,” deputy traffic police manager Lin Chanyou was quoted as saying. “This way, they take up car parking space.