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Baiyun
International Airport.
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a subway train.
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The
terminal is easy to navigate.
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When Guangzhou resident Liu Suqin got married in 1980, taking
a flight was a luxury few could afford. So, before boarding her
flight for Guilin, where the newly-weds would spend their honeymoon,
they had a photo taken at Baiyun Airport. That old airport now
exists only in photos like theirs: it has since been replaced
by the new one opened in 2004 in Huadu District, where Liu Suqin
now lives.
The new and impressive structure that is Baiyun International
Airport is located at the border of Baiyun District’s Renhe
Town and Huandu District’s Xinhua Town, 28 kilometers from
the heart of Guangzhou. Phase I of the project has now been completed,
and the airport covers a total of 16.5 square kilometers, with
370,000 square meters for terminals. It is designed to meet anticipated
annual traffic of 25 to 27 million passengers by 2010. Whereas
space was an issue for the old airport, it won’t be for Baiyun
International Airport – it is some distance from Guangzhou’s
downtown area, and plenty of land has been reserved for Phase
II and III of the project.
With an investment of approximately RMB 20 billion in Phase I
alone, Baiyun International Airport is the Chinese mainland’s
first large-scale hub airport. Already it sees 500 aircraft arrive
and depart daily, connecting Guangzhou with 100 Chinese cities
as well as 30 cities and regions around the world.
A Hub Airport for the Asia-Pacific Region
“The idea of a ‘hub airport’ is one that has been
introduced from abroad. It has been neither well understood nor
applied in China,” explains Xu Guangyu, secretary of the
Baiyun Airport Board of Directords, “Most Chinese airports
schedule direct flights to Beijing, including all of those in
Guangdong Province. But in the US, passengers will fly to a hub
airport and catch a connecting flight to big, faraway cities.
This method is faster, cheaper and more convenient, and now, via
Baiyun International Airport, it is available to passengers in
the Chinese mainland for the first time.”
A hub airport is in fact a long-range trunk airport through which
routes from cities within its radius (spokes) are routed to other
regions. Today, most large nations with a well-developed aviation
industry have transformed their flight network from a mess of
direct city-to-city flights to interlinked hub airports and their
spokes – almost all of the world’s top 20 airports are
hub airports.
China’s aviation authorities have plans to build a smoothly
functioning airport network between 2006 and 2010, featuring trunk
route, hub, and feeder airports. The first step in achieving this
goal is the upgrade of Beijing’s Capital, Shanghai’s
Pudong and Guangzhou’s Baiyun International airport as hubs.
Though it is the third largest airport in China (No.1 is Capital
International Airport and No.2 Shanghai Airport composed of Pudong
and Hongqiao), Baiyun International Airport is the only one that
was designed as a hub airport. What’s more, it has several
spokes within a radius of 200 kilometers, including Zhuhai, Shenzhen,
Hong Kong and Macao.
The new airport in Baiyun aims not just to link southern Chinese
cities with the rest of the country; it hopes to exploit its geographical
advantage and become China’s main hub for the Asia Pacific
Region. As one of the first regions in China to open up to the
outside world, GDP growth in the export-based Pearl River Delta
is running at around 12 percent a year, significantly higher than
the national average. Guangzhou is the economic, political and
cultural center of southern China, and is also its largest trading
port and a pivotal transportation point. Experts believe a fan-shaped
aviation network will come into being, with Guangzhou at the tip
and southern China’s provinces and autonomous regions, including
Guangxi, Hunan, Guizhou, Sichuan, Jiangxi and Fujian, and 20-odd
cities in Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia and the Philippines
spread across the broader end.
This spells good news for the country’s biggest airline,
China Southern. Headquartered in Baiyun International Airport,
China Southern plans to consolidate its routes to establish a
hub-spoke system. Another airline based in Baiyun International
Airport is Shenzhen Airlines, which runs several domestic routes
from Guangzhou. Hainan Airlines has just received approval to
set up a base in Baiyun International, which will help them in
obtaining more routes in and out of the city.
State-of-the-art Facilities
Though the new airport is farther from the downtown area than
the old one was, Baiyun International Airport is conveniently
connected to the city by subway. Furthermore, 12 highways linking
neighboring cities with the airport are being revamped to cut
average driving times down to an hour. The new infrastructure
means that some 60 million people can conveniently make their
way to Baiyun International Airport.
According to its Phase I plans, Baiyun International Airport
will each year welcome 25 million passengers, handle one million
tons of cargo and facilitate 186,500 aircraft. It currently has
two runways, and one more is to be built. Recent figures show
that it’s well on its way to reaching these goals. In 2005
alone, Baiyun International Airport reported traffic of 23.4 million
passengers, a 15.9 percent increase over the previous year, and
among the world’s top 50 airports.
The expansion project has begun ahead of schedule to cope with
the airport’s sharp increase in business. This phase will
have an apron that can accommodate eight medium-sized aircraft,
24 assembly points and a cargo warehouse covering 40,000 square
meters. The airport hopes its passenger and cargo volumes will
be ranked within the world’s top 20 and 15 respectively by
2010.
The spacious and well-designed Baiyun International Airport is
also committed to improving its management, and above all, its
services. Its cutting-edge systems allow passengers to check in
at any of its 168 counters, and baggage checking takes no more
than five minutes. Its other facilities include a hotel, restaurants
and a post office, providing travelers with their every convenience.
What’s more, Baiyun International Airport has streamlined
the international departure procedures that have been in existence
in the People’s Republic of China for 50 years, providing
outbound passengers with even more convenience. Passengers may
now check in before going through the exit procedures, while the
security check and baggage check is conducted simultaneously.
Bringing the World to Guangzhou
Liu Zijing is president of Guangdong Airport Management Group,
operator of Baiyun International Airport. He and two of the group’s
vice presidents attended the 2005 World Route Development Forum
in Copenhagen, where they were among the busiest participants.
They held talks with 30 foreign airlines on opening new routes,
and brought much new business to Guangzhou.
When the new airport opened in 2004, it operated 23 international
routes. By the end of 2005, the airport was running 35 international
routes, bringing passengers and cargo to every continent on earth
in cooperation with Air France, Lufthansa, Finnair, Kenya Airways,
UPS, and many more foreign airlines. More new routes are to be
launched this year.
Moreover, FedEx’s monumental decision to move its Asia-Pacific
hub to Baiyun will help the airport attain its goal of adding
a further 50 international routes over the next five years. The
world’s top air express shipper’s new hub, to be opened
in 2008, will be its largest outside the US, and will have twice
the capacity of its existing Asia-Pacific hub in the Philippines.
Pride of Guangzhou and Economic Propeller for Guangdong
On February 25, 2004, Baiyun International Airport was taken
over by the Guangdong Provincial Government, after a decision
by the Civil Aviation Administration of China. The Guangdong Airport
Management Group, under the municipality of Guangzhou, was established
soon afterwards. Though the province owns the airport, it is operated
by the city itself, and is therefore included in Guangzhou’s
overall plan for social and economic development.
Since then, Baiyun International Airport has brought some golden
opportunities to the surrounding areas as well as to the entire
province. For one thing, local tourism has received a boost as
international visitors can fly directly to the city instead of
first stopping over in Hong Kong. The impending arrival of FedEx
has promoted 18 Asian cities in planning Guangzhou-centered express
delivery services. It has also been reported that 100 foreign
IT companies will set up shop in the city.
Baiyun International Airport has been selected as the spot to
light the torch for the 16th Asian Games. The Airport Group meanwhile
plans to apply for the right to host the World Routes Development
Forum in 2009 or 2010. Taking all this into account, Baiyun Airport
can expect to wield ever greater influence on world aviation.
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