Big Projects: China to transform airports into major international hubs

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The Belt and Road Initiative is extending its reach to China's airports. Case in point - one airport in western China that will now serve as a major gateway to central Asia, Europe, and beyond. CGTN's Ning Hong takes us to Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

Bigger planes, more airlines, larger airports.

China is boosting the development of its civil aviation industry.

Urumqi airport in western China is the region's busiest airport.

Today, Captain Li Bin and his crew are in charge of a flight from Urumqi to Almaty.

As China allocates more international air routes to regional capitals like Urumqi, Li and his colleagues are going to fly more of those routes.

LI BIN, CAPTAIN CHINA SOUTHERN AIRLINES "We have flight routes that go over the Pamirs and The Chogori. We have undergone simulations and training for possible scenarios like single engine failure and decompression so that we can handle them swiftly and correctly."

The Urumqi airport is also the second largest base of China Southern Airlines, one of the nation's three major airlines.

Their goal is to build an international airline with world-class cabin service.

LI XIAOHUI, CABIN CREW CHIEF CHINA SOUTHERN AIRLINES "We have selected an elite team for international air routes, and we have an advantage in serving passengers from central Asia as our crew is comprised of people who speak various languages from Kazak to Uyghur to Russian to Mongolian."

The Airplane Operating Control Center ensures airport efficiency.

On-time performance reached 89 percent in the first quarter of the year.

NING HONG URUMQI AIRPORT, XINJIANG UYGUR AUTONOMOUS REGION "The Urumqi Airport is located in China's westernmost region, and the nation aims to transform it into the main passageway connecting China and Central Asia and Europe."

In March, the airport welcomed a new airline, offering nonstop flights from Guangzhou to Nursultan, the capital of Kazakhstan.

Also, this June, another air route will take passengers to Vienna, Austria.

JASON PROFFITT, PASSENGER URUMQI AIRPORT "It's just a hub, here to Almaty or to somewhere else to central Asia. It is a good intermediary stop since the flight is not too long."

ZHENG WEI, PASSENGER URUMQI AIRPORT "We have business in almost all countries in Central Asia, and there is a direct flight to all of these countries from Urumqi, including on domestic and overseas airlines."

Regular cargo flights from Norway now bring fresh salmon every week.

This summer, fruit from central Asia will also be flown here.

LI MEIXIANG, GENERAL MANAGER TIANYUAN INTERNATIONAL LOGISTICS CO., LTD. "Those fresh products will greatly stimulate the local market, and make Urumqi a hub for European and Central Asian products in western China."

And Urumqi is not the only airport with ambitious plans.

Others in border regions across China have all set goals to boost capacity for international transportation.

LIU CHUN-CHEN, DIRECTOR GENERAL AIRPORT DEPARTMENT, CIVIL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION OF CHINA "We are focusing on building ten major international aviation hubs, with Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou topping the list. Building world-class airport clusters and international aviation hubs are the core of our nation's airport system."

Since China presented its Belt and Road Initiative six years ago, China has built 27 new airports, and 200 more are planned.

Authorities are also promoting a Chinese standard for airports with four principals: safe, green, smart and humane.

Ning Hong, CGTN.