More than 199 million yuan ($30.62 million) has been invested to help improve and expand Baiyun International Airport's environment and facilities.

Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, is expected to strengthen its status as a major aviation and shipping hub in the southern Chinese region with the coming expansion of its airport and ports.

Qiu Zhizhong, deputy director of Guangzhou aviation administrative commission, said, the second terminal of Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport is expected to come into service in February 2018.

"The supplementary facilities for the third runway have also been completed while feasibility studies for a fourth and fifth runway have also begun," Qiu said.

The construction of the second airport expressway and the related expressway projects that will help link the airport to major Pearl River Delta cities are ramping up, Qiu added.

According to Qiu, Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport will be able to handle more than 80 million passengers a year by 2020.

More than 2.5 million metric tons of cargo will arrive in and leave Guangzhou via the airport by 2020, he added.

More than 199 million yuan ($30.62 million) has been invested to help improve the airport's environment and facilities, including the construction of hangars and related facilities.

Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport, which currently has one terminal and three runways, is now the third-busiest airport on the mainland after Beijing and Shanghai.

In 2015, the airport handled 55.21 million passengers and 1.54 million tons of cargo.

The airport has 136 international and regional routes, with more than 1,000 scheduled flights linking Guangzhou to 207 destinations in Asia, Africa, Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand daily.

Huang Bo, deputy director of the Guangzhou port administrative commission, said Guangzhou ports will open between eight to 10 new international ocean routes in 2016, connecting the southern metropolis to even more global destinations.

While also making efforts to strengthen ties with Europe, Africa and Southeast Asia, the city is giving top priority to opening new international ocean routes to American nations and regions, Huang said.

To this end, the third and fourth expansion projects for Nansha Port, located at the estuary of the Pearl River, will begin before the end of year.

Ports in Guangzhou handled 520 million tons of cargo last year, up 4 percent year-on-year, ranking fourth on the mainland and the sixth in the world.

Local quality and quarantine inspectors at a port in the Nansha Free Trade Zone. Ports in Guangzhou are strengthening their ties with overseas countries and are creating plenty investment opportunities.

 

(China Daily 03/24/2016 page10)