North China's Qinhuangdao city, one of the co-hosts of the 2008
Beijing Olympic Games, has opened a former military airport to
international charter flights for the first time to cope with a
projected tourist peak before and during the Games.
A Tu-154 passenger plane carrying 124 Russian tourists landed at
the city's Shanhaiguan Airport at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, and took off
in two hours to take home 118 Russian tourists who had arrived
earlier.
The new charter route, operated by Russian Yakutia Airlines,
links Qinhuangdao and Russia's two far east cities of
Blagoveshchensk and Yakutsk with three flights a week, Shanhaiguan
Airport authorities said.
Shanhaiguan, an ancient town where the Great Wall meets the sea,
was built in 1381 during the Ming Dynasty as a strategic military
post to help defend Beijing.
The airport launched its first civil flight in 1984. It has been
approved by the Chinese government this year to land international
flights because crowds of international football fans are expected
to fly to Qinhuangdao for the football events during the 2008
Beijing Olympic Games.
Renovation of the airport involved an investment of 45 million
yuan (US$5.8 million), financed by local authorities and China's
General Administration of Civil Aviation.
Qinhuangdao is a famous summer resort with the nearest beach
from Beijing. It will co-host the soccer tournament of the 2008
Olympic Games along with Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and
Shenyang.
(Xinhua News Agency July 31, 2007)