Despite the expansion of Beijing Capital International Airport
nearing completion, the civil aviation authority is already
considering the construction of a fourth runway or second
international airport to cope with soaring passenger numbers.
Capital's third runway, which became operational yesterday, and
third terminal building, scheduled to open in February, will give
the airport the capacity to handle 60 million passengers and 1.8
million tons of cargo every year.
However, while early forecasts said passenger throughput would
not reach 60 million until 2015, more recent predictions have
suggested the figure will be reached much sooner.
As a result, there is now debate over the development of either
a fourth runway or second airport.
A civil aviation official for the North China area, who asked to
be called Sun, told China Daily that relevant parties had
already considered the matter.
"When we built the third runway, we gave ourselves the option to
join it to a fourth if the government approved its construction,"
he said.
"However, during project feasibility meetings, a number of
experts suggested an additional runway would not significantly
increase the airport's handling capability."
Which is why the project was not launched, he said.
An alternative, Sun said, is to build a second airport. This
idea has long been discussed but never developed as agreement could
not be reached on its location.
He said, however, that despite five years of delays, the General
Administration of Civil Aviation (CAAC) looked to be nearing a
decision on a site for the facility.
The Beijing-based China Economic Weekly reported
yesterday that the CAAC has submitted a proposal for the site to
the central government for approval.
An unnamed CAAC official was quoted as saying the preferred site
is to the south of the city near the Yongding River, which forms a
boundary between Beijing and Hebei Province.
Wuqing in Tianjin Municipality and Nanyuan Airport in Daxing
district had earlier been proposed as possible sites for
development, the report said.
"When the location plan is approved by the central government,
the CAAC will conduct a feasibility research," the official
said.
Experts believe a second airport will greatly boost the economic
development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area.
The National Development and Reform Commission approved a report
in August 2003 that called for the construction of a second airport
to commence in 2010 and be completed by 2015, the official
said.
(Xinhua News Agency October 30, 2007)
