In the next five years China is set to spend more on airport
development than it has in the last 15 which will open up
significant investment opportunities for domestic and overseas
investors.
According to the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC),
the industry regulator, 140 billion yuan (US$17.4 billion) has been
earmarked from this year to 2010 for airport development compared
to the 120 billion yuan (US$14.8 billion) from 1990 to last
year.
The spending will be centered on 42 new airports and upgrading
existing infrastructure.
Zhao Hongyuan, a senior CAAC official, told China Daily
the number of airports would rise to 190 from the current 142 with
the figure reaching to 220 by 2020. The fleet strength of
commercial aircraft will grow to 1,580 by 2010, up from the current
863, before reaching approximately 4,000 in 2020.
The first step is to strengthen Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou
airports as key international hubs. The CAAC also wishes to see
Chengdu, Kunming, Xi'an, Wuhan and Shenyang become regional
hubs.
It's not just the developed coastal and eastern areas which will
hog the funds as other regions will also get a big chunk of the
spending pie.
For example, southwest China's Yunnan Province plans to invest more than 20
billion yuan (US$2.5 billion) in airport projects in the next five
years, accounting for nearly one-seventh of the country's total,
Xinhua News Agency reported.
By 2010 the province will have 15 airports -- currently there
are 10 -- forming a comprehensive network linking all parts of
Yunnan with the rest of the world especially southeastern and
southern Asia.
"All the projects, national or local, will offer opportunities
for investors at home and abroad," said Zhao.
China opened the aviation infrastructure sector to domestic and
foreign investment in 2002 and there have been many takers.
German airport operator, Fraport, recently bought a 25 percent
stake in east China's Ningbo airport and is in talks for an even
bigger stake in Xi'an's Xianyang airport in northwest China.
Experts say airport development is vital to keeping pace with
the soaring level of air traffic. Last year domestic airlines
carried 138 million passengers, up 15.5 percent from the previous
year, and 3.4 million tons of cargo, a rise of 13.8 percent.
The CAAC said it expected passenger and cargo traffic to grow at
an average of 14 percent annually until 2010 with yearly growth
slowing to 11 percent between 2011 and 2020.
"The current number of airports does not match the present and
long-term needs of China," said Gao Jinhua, professor at Tianjin
School of Civil Aviation Management.
According to CAAC figures there are just 142 certified airports
to serve a population of over 1.3 billion. In comparison, the
United States, with 270 million people, has 14,807 airports and
Australia with a population of just over 20 million has 444.
"The challenge is not only to increase the number of airports
but to improve existing infrastructure as well," said Gao.
The World Tourism Organization estimated recently that China
would be the fourth-largest international source of leisure
travelers by 2020 and predicted about 100 million international
Chinese tourists that year. They've also said the country would
become the world's top inbound tourist destination the same
year.
But of the current 142 airports only 25 are equipped to handle
large aircraft like the Boeing 747.
(China Daily May 9, 2006)
