China is going to build three world-class airport groups – backing the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area, the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta. According to China's Civil Aviation Administration, the new groups will make Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou three major international aviation hubs.
A security channel at Terminal 3 of Beijing Capital International Airport. /VCG Photo
The plan is aimed at developing advanced airports to match the developed city groups they are located in by reasonably dividing the work, optimizing flight routes, better securing resources and achieving synergy effect, said Feng Zhenglin, director of the Civil Aviation Administration, on Thursday at the 2017 China Civil Aviation Development Forum in Beijing.
Shanghai Pudong International Airport. /VCG Photo
The three airport groups are based on the concentration of world-class cities in the three areas, and their passenger and cargo volumes. Cities across the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta have developed into preliminary world-class cities and airport groups.
In 2016, the three airport groups recorded 473 million passengers, accounting for 46.5 percent of all airports in China, and air cargo traffic of 14.69 million tons, accounting for 74.4 percent.
Passenger traffic at Beijing Capital International Airport ranked second worldwide for the seventh consecutive year. While passenger traffic at Shanghai’s two airports exceeded 100 million, and cargo traffic at Shanghai Pudong International Airport ranked third for the ninth consecutive year.
In addition, airports in Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Macao have also witnessed growing volume.
Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport. /VCG Photo
The rise of city groups and airport groups are significant features of economic globalization, and airport groups have become an important channel for cities to be involved in global business.
Feng reckons the development of airport groups still faces the challenges of unreasonable layout of different functions, over-concentration of important cities and the immature developing status of comprehensive transport.
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