Beijing is expected to put a second international airport into
use around 2015 to ease traffic pressure, a top official with
China's civil aviation administration said on Wednesday.
The present airport will see its passenger flow exceed 60
million this year, seven years earlier than anticipated, said Yang
Guoqing, deputy head of China's General Administration of Civil
Aviation (CAAC).
The CAAC had submitted a report to the central government on the
selection of a site for a second international airport, which was
still undecided, said Yang. He said that the selection process was
complicated, involving the distribution of airspace and passenger
flows, regional economic development and the environment.
There have been reports that the new facility would be located
on the plains near the Yongding River to the south of the city, in
neighboring Hebei Province, or in Tianjin Municipality.
Before the new facility opens, the Beijing Capital International
Airport (BCIA), the only international airport in the host city of
the upcoming Olympics, will finish the construction of a third
passenger terminal and a 340,000 square-meter traffic center.
The airport, China's busiest, handled 53.47 million passengers
last year, putting it among the world's 10 busiest airports.
The Olympic Games, to be held in Beijing this August, are
expected to bring more passengers to the capital.
The third terminal will start operation on February 29, with an
area of 986,000 square meters, more than doubling the current two
terminals' total area, said Zhang Guobao, head of the leading team
in charge of the expansion project, on Wednesday.
Advanced technology will be adopted at the terminal, including a
luggage transmitting system with automatic sorting function and a
highest transmission speed of seven meters per second, offering
greater convenience, said Zhang.
(Xinhua News Agency January 31, 2008)
