The world's second busiest airport says it has welcomed its 90 millionth passenger on Wednesday morning, making it the second airport in the world to serve that many passengers in a single calendar year.

With the touchdown of Air China flight CA8201, Beijing Capital International Airport hit the milestone of 90 million passengers. Every customer on the arriving flight from Wuhan Tianhe International Airport got a surprising gift from the staff of Beijing Capital Airport.

Beijing Capital Airport has been the world's second busiest airport in terms of passenger traffic for 7 years in a row, next only to Atlanta Airport, which handled 100 million passengers in 2015.

It took the airport 4 years to reach its passengers to 90 million from 80 million. In 2012, Beijing Capital Airport hit 80 million passengers for the first time. The airport handled 83.50 million passengers in 2013, 86.13 million in 2014 and 89.94 million in 2015.

Currently, there are 102 airlines -- 28 domestic airlines and 74 international airlines -- operating at Beijing Capital Airport, connecting the airport with 140 domestic destinations and 132 international destinations (including Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan). Beijing Capital Airport has signed sister airport agreements with 33 international airports worldwide.

As the busiest airport in China, Beijing Capital Airport is dedicated to building itself into a major international air hub. With the implement of 72-hour visa free policy, the number of transit passengers has increased 32% from a year earlier. The airport says 26% of its customers are international passengers. The growth rate of international passengers is triple that of domestic passengers.

"The 90 million milestone is new starting point for us. We still have a long way to go," said Beijing Capital Airport.

Shanghai Monday received its 100 millionth air passenger this year, making the city the world's fifth to handle more than 100 million annual air passengers, following London, New York, Tokyo and Atlanta. Shanghai's two airports -- Pudong and Hongqiao -- will be able to handle 120 million passengers and 5.2 million tonnes of cargo annually by 2020.