China is accelerating the building of a modern airport system that features a good
layout and complete functions by transforming and expanding hub airports and
building small and medium airports in remote areas.
During the first half of this year, fixed-asset investment in China’s civil aviation
industry amounted to 43.5 billion yuan ($6.72 billion), an increase of 8.5 percent year
on year. By the end of June, 23 airports were under construction in the country.
Some newly-built airports made their maiden flights during the first six months of the
year. On June 27, an aircraft of Sichuan Airlines left Chengdu Tianfu International
Airport, a 4F-class airport situated in Chengdu city, southwest China’s Sichuan
province, with 262 passengers. It was the first commercial flight of the airport after it
was officially put into operation.
During the same period, the country also made progress in the construction of some
airports. For example, Ezhou Huahu Airport, an airport under construction near
Duwan village, Yanji township, Ezhou city, central China’s Hubei province, is
changing with each passing day as over 6,000 constructors work around the clock
amid busy cranes and roaring concrete delivery trucks.
Ezhou Huahu Airport is the first professional cargo airport in Asia, said Zhang Gan,
head of the planning and development department of Hubei International Logistics
Airport Co., Ltd. After it is put into operation, the airport will achieve an annual cargo
and mail throughput of more than two million tons, Zhang added.
Besides newly-built airports, airline hub transformation and expansion projects also
represented a large proportion of the investment in civil aviation industry from
January to June.
According to Han Jun, an official with the Civil Aviation Administration of China, 40
of the 50 busiest airports in China will undergo reconstruction and expansion.
Many airline hubs haven’t been able to satisfy the demands of rapidly growing air
passenger traffic in recent years, which makes it necessary to increase their capacity
and improve their comprehensive abilities and services, Han pointed out.
Another highlight of the investment in civil aviation during the first half of this year is
the momentum of smart aviation.
As smart aviation construction is continuously advanced, air travelers’ experience has
been significantly improved, Han said. This year, 40 airline hubs in China will be
covered by Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), an advanced technological means
of luggage management in civil aviation industry, according to Han, who explained
that if applied in whole-process luggage tracking system, RFID technology ensures
faster and more accurate baggage claim than barcode recognition, not only saving
passengers’ time, but allowing them to track luggage on their mobile phones.
Airports, which used to be a basic symbol of megacities, are increasingly seen in
small towns. Since it began operation in September last year, Ankang Fuqiang
Airport, located in Wuli township, Ankang city, keeps setting new records almost
every day. In the first six months this year, its passenger throughput reached 132,400,
said Ji Yinghui, general manager of the operator of the airport.
Cao Bo, deputy secretary of the commission for discipline inspection at the operator,
stressed that the airport has made it easier and faster for local people to travel to other
regions, and effectively attracted visitors to the area.
China will put more efforts into building a batch of small and medium airports in
central, western and remote areas across the country, like airports under construction
in Chenzhou city, central China’s Hunan province, and Zhaosu county, northwest
China’s Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, Han noted.
China plans to build over 30 new airports from 2021 to 2025, mostly in central and
western areas of the country, in a bid to continuously extend its airline network and
helping more people get access to convenient air traveling services, according to Han.
During the second quarter this year, civil aviation industry saw a sharp rise in
passenger traffic from the first three months, while domestic air passenger transport
volume basically recovered to pre-COVID-19 levels.
Although China’s passenger traffic ranks second in the world, its civil aviation
industry still faces unbalanced and inadequate development.
Considering the fact that the country has a middle-income group made up of over 400
million people and an even larger low- and middle-income group, Han believes that
Chinese people’s demands for air transport will continue to grow significantly and
that China’s efforts to boost the development of civil aviation come right in time.
