A Shenzhen Airlines Co. flight bound for Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, was the first to depart from the new 451,000-square-meter terminal—which is shaped like a plane preparing for takeoff—early this morning.
Despite already-congested airspace in the skies above China’s southern Pearl River Delta region, airport operators in Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Macau and Zhuhai—which currently manage a total of eight runways in five commercial airports—are investing in more infrastructure in an attempt to win over more of the growing number of travelers in the region.
In the first 10 months of 2013, passenger traffic in China rose 11% to 297.6 million, thanks to the robust demand for air traffic despite poor on-time performance.
A plan to construct a third runway at the Hong Kong International Airport is under public evaluation; Guangzhou Baiyun Airport will launch its third runway next year, with a second terminal expected to begin operations in 2016.
The new Shenzhen terminal is part of a 21.8 billion yuan expansion plan, which includes a second runway that opened in July 2011 and a hotel, commercial complex and freight terminal. The new terminal, designed by Italian firm Studio Fuksas, is three times the size of existing terminals. It’s expected to boost the airport’s capacity to 45 million passengers annually by 2020 from around 30 million passengers currently.
Shenzhen is the country’s sixth-busiest airport and its main domestic gateway in Southern China. It has for years been attracting passengers away from the rival airport across the border in Hong Kong, lured by its more extensive Mainland China network as well as lower prices. The Shenzhen airport’s network covers 169 routes to 109 domestic and international cities; Hong Kong services routes to only 44 destinations in Mainland China.
No word on whether the increased traffic will add to delays in China—which is already ranked as the world’s worst for on-time arrivals and departures.
Source: Wall Street Journal
