Richard Han

ximhan@126.com

THE construction of a third runway at Shenzhen International Airport was officially inaugurated yesterday.

Once completed in 2030, the new 12.3-billion-yuan (US$1.76 billion) runway will boost passenger throughput to 80 million a year from 50 million, and double freight and mail handling to 2.6 million tons.

The project includes a 3,600-meter-long and 45-meter-wide runway that can accommodate landing and takeoff of all types of commercial aircraft as well as aviation control facilities such as a 3,200-sqm control tower, 9,500-sqm business operation building and 800-sqm equipment building for air control, communication, navigation, monitoring and meteorology.

Construction of the runway, its taxiway system and supporting facilities will cost 11.9 billion yuan and will be paid for by the Shenzhen government.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China will finance the air traffic control system to the tune of 480 million yuan.

The project was sanctioned the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China’s top economic planning body, early last year.

In the approval, NDRC said the extra facilities will help turn the airport into a global transportation hub, meet demands made by rapid growth in aviation, and accelerate the construction of world-class airports in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

In 2019, Shenzhen airport passenger throughput exceeded 52.9 million, an increase of 7.3 percent over 2018, and cargo and mail throughput was 1.28 million tons, up by 5.3 percent. It is now operating international routes to 60 cities worldwide and has international passenger turnover reaching 5 million, accounting for nearly 10 percent of the total passengers coming through the airport.

The airport currently has two runways. The second runway, 3,800 meters in length and 60 meters in width, was put into use in 2011.

The Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area released in February last year mentioned building a world-class airport cluster in the Pearl River Delta.

It plans to elevate the status of the Shenzhen airport, making Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen the top four international hubs on the Chinese mainland.