Terminal 2 at Ningbo Lishe International Airport was put into use on Dec 28, according to local media reports. 

Construction on the building, shaped like a giant shell, began in 2015. 

With an investment of roughly 11.5 billion yuan, the new terminal has a floor space of 112,400 square meters, 2.5 times larger than the currently operating Terminal 1, as well as 28 gates and 34 aircraft stands.

The passenger throughput of the Ningbo airport is expected to reach 12 million annually, while the freight throughput is expected to reach 300,000 metric tons. 

Zheng Shanjie, deputy Party chief of Zhejiang and Gao Xingfu, vice governor of Zhejiang, inspected the new terminal. 

Zheng, also Party chief of Ningbo, praised the efforts made by the airport authority to provide better services for passengers.

A number of cutting-edge technologies such as facial recognition have been applied in T2 so as to shorten the check-in and check-out processes for passengers.

Zheng pointed out that the terminal's establishment will further cement Ningbo's status as an important regional transportation hub for the nation and help the city better integrate into the Belt and Road Initiative and the Yangtze River Delta region.

Metro line 2 is the quickest and cheapest way to reach the new terminal.

Terminal 2 at Ningbo Lishe International Airport is put into use in Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang province on Dec 28. [Photo/cnnb.com.cn]