The headquarters for the second phase construction of the airport in Pudong New District of Shanghai has begun soliciting designs worldwide for the airport's expansion.  

In its bidding brochure, the headquarters, set up to supervise construction of the second phase, said it would include a runway, a terminal, and a logistics center, and the construction is estimated to cost 12 billion yuan (US$1.45 billion).

Li Derun, deputy president of Shanghai Airports Group, said the investment needed to build the second phase of Pudong Airport would be raised through more flexible measures.

"But details regarding money-raising are still under discussion," said Li, who is also assigned to be deputy commander-in-chief with the headquarters for the second phase project.

The economic development demands of Shanghai, especially the city's successful bid in winning the 2010 World Expo, had made the second phase construction imperative, said Li.

The new terminal would have to be able to handle 40 million passengers annually. By 2015, Pudong Airport, with operations of the existing first phase and the projected second phase, would be able to handle 60 million passengers annually, according to the bidding brochure.

The headquarters, with the approval of Shanghai Municipal Government, consists of specialists and officials from a dozen organizations in Shanghai, including the municipal commission of construction, the municipal commission of communications and Shanghai Airports Group.

The bidding brochures have been edited by the Institute of Civil Aviation Planning and Design, the Airport Import and Export Company, in consultation with the headquarters and Naco company of the Netherlands. They were made known worldwide at a specially convened conference on the second phase expansion shortly after the headquarters was founded.

Overseas airport planning and design companies from a score of countries and regions, such as the United States, Germany, France, Britain, Canada and Singapore, have expressed intent to bid either independently or jointly.

Li said bidding would close by the end of the first quarter of next year.

(Xinhua News Agency October 11, 2003)