"Huge expansion plans to consolidate Guangzhou airport as rival to Hong Kong"

Monday, February 7, 2005

Huge expansion plans to consolidate Guangzhou airport as rival to Hong Kong
Agence France-Presse


BEIJING, (AFP) - Guangzhou's huge new airport in southern China, which has
vowed to unseat Hong Kong as the region's air hub, will move further towards
that goal with major construction work starting next month, state media said
Monday.

The second phase construction project for Baiyun International Airport,
which began operations in August, is expected to be completed by 2009 and
come into operation the year after, the Xinhua news agency reported.

The report did not specify details of the building work but an airport
official, who did not want to be named, told AFP that construction would
focus mainly on enlarging the main terminal building,

Once the project is completed, the airport would be able to handle 80
million passengers a year, up from 27 million now, Xinhua said, citing an
industry symposium held in Guangzhou, the capital of the southern province
of Guangdong.

By the end of the decade, the airport is also expected to be capable of
processing 2.5 million tonnes of cargo, up from one million tonnes now, it
said.

The report would appear to confirm that Baiyun, built at a cost of 19
billion yuan (2.4 billion dollars), aims to become a major player in the
regional aviation market.

It is particularly bad news for Hong Kong's Chek Lap Kok airport less than
100 kilometres (60 miles) away.

The Hong Kong airport, opened in 1998, currently handles 35 million
passengers annually as well as three million tonnes of cargo, more freight
than any other in the world.

Analysts have said Baiyun, in the center of China's manufacturing heartland,
could rob it of vital trade.

Baiyun International Airport has so far opened 83 domestic and 28
international routes, according to Xinhua, adding that it planned to add
another 15 international flights this year.


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