Work to start on new Beijing airport
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Construction of a second airport in Beijing is likely to start this year, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC). The new airport, which will have an annual capacity of at least 60 million passengers, will operate alongside the existing Beijing Capital International Airport, the China Daily reported CAAC head Li Jiaxiang as saying this week. The new hub is likely to be located in the city’s southern Daxing district. Beijing Capital is currently the world’s second busiest airport in terms of passenger traffic, handling 73.9 million passengers in 2010.
“It is very urgent that we start building the second airport in Beijing now. It is now impossible to add even one more flight to the tight daily schedule of the Capital airport,” Li was quoted saying at an aviation conference in the Chinese capital. He added that the project would cost “at least CNY100 billion” (US$15 billion).
Beijing’s second airport is one of 11 new airports that the CAAC plans to start developing in 2011, with a 12-month investment totalling CNY55 billion. China already has 175 airports for civil aviation purposes. The CAAC estimated that China’s air transport industry would cater for 300 million passengers and 6.2 million tons of cargo in 2011.
Pic caption: Beijing’s Capital Airport handled nearly 74 million passengers in 2010
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