Beijing is keen to start building a new airport before 2010, but
experts cannot see eye to eye on where the airport should be
located.
Many commentators say the new airport should be built in the
32-county poverty belt that surrounds the national capital and
Tianjin, so that the 2.7 million poor people living there can
benefit from the economic activity generated by the new
facility.
The General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC)
confirmed that it has a construction schedule for the new airport
but that no decision has yet been taken concerning its
location.
The three sites in contention for the new airport are Wuqing in
Tianjin Municipality, and Zhuozhou and
Langfang in Hebei, the province that surrounds
Beijing.
Professor Wu Liangyong from Tsinghua University's School of
Architecture recommends Beijing build its second international
airport in Tianjin's Wuqing district.
"I believe Wuqing will be an appropriate choice both from the
point of regional development and safety," says Wu, member of the
Chinese Academy of Science and the Chinese Academy of Engineering,
in a news report carried in the latest issue of the China Economic
Weekly published by the People's Daily.
But Yang Kaizhong, professor and deputy head of the Capital
Development Institute of Peking University, thinks otherwise.
"Locating the new airport in the area north of Zhuozhou in Hebei
will work better in terms of harmonious development of the entire
Beijing-Tianjing-Hebei region, and will contribute to balanced
urban development in Beijing, especially the development of the
southern part of the city," says Yang.
Dr. Hu Zhanlue with Tehua Post-Doctorate Work Station recommends
Langfang City as an ideal place for the new Beijing airport because
of its favorable geographic conditions.
Dr. Hu's suggestion is contradicted by Professor Sun Jiuwen with
the Regional Economy and Urban Administration Institute of
Beijing-based Renmin University of China.
"I visited Langfang several times. It was foggy almost everyday,
so I don't think Langfang is a good place for locating a new
Beijing airport," says Sun, "As far as the new Beijing airport is
concerned, we should set our eyes on the post-2010 development of
the whole Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei region and take the poverty
belt surrounding Beijing and Tianjin into consideration."
According to Sun's regional development perspective, Binhai
airport in Tianjin would specialize in air cargo, a new Beijing
airport located in the Tianjin-Beijing-Hebei border area would
focus on international air services and the existing capital
airport would handle domestic air travel.
An official with the transportation division of the State
Development and Reform Commission says the overriding purpose of
the new Beijing airport is to contribute to economic development in
the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region as a whole.
"Site selection is not yet on our agenda, but we are listening
to opinions from specialists and will submit a well-considered plan
to the central government for approval," says the official in an
interview with China Economic Weekly.
Beijing's Capital International Airport can currently handle 35
million passengers a year following a major expansion project
completed in September 1999 and will soon boost this figure to 60
million.
But the upcoming 2008 Olympic Games will put Capital Airport
under a lot of pressure. It is estimated that 5.56 million
passengers will transit by the airport during the Olympic Games,
equivalent to about 54 million passengers annually.
The Beijing Municipality infrastructure development plan for the
11th five-year-plan period (2006-2010),
released a month ago, states that construction of the second
Beijing international airport will begin before 2010.
The new airport will be able to handle 80-100 million
passengers, plus five million tons of cargo annually.
(Xinhua News Agency November 13, 2006)