City poised to take flight as next major aviation hub

The 22nd World Route Development Forum, also known as World Routes, one of the biggest annual events for the civil aviation sector, was held in Chengdu from Sept 24 to 27.

The event drew 3,500 representatives from 350 airlines and 1,200 airports around the world.

"The fact that Chengdu won the bid to host the World Routes over five other competitive rivals demonstrates its comprehensive strength and competitiveness, and the world's expectation to share the opportunities offered by Chengdu," said Katie Bland, director of routes at UBM Live, organizer of the World Routes.

"The city has been attracting worldwide attention with its huge market potential and development opportunities; it provides a perfect platform for the 2016 event."

Chen Zhongwei, director of Chengdu Port and Logistics Office, said the holding of the World Routes created an excellent opportunity for Chengdu to expand its flight network and provide a perfect platform for the city to show its achievements in recent years to airlines, airports and investors around the world.

He said Chengdu held one-on-one meetings with airlines from home and abroad during the event, pushing for the opening of more international air routes.

Chengdu is the fourth largest aviation hub in China. Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport handled 42 million passengers in 2015, an increase of 12.1 percent year-on-year, according to Civil Aviation Administration of China.

The number of overseas passengers through the Shuangliu airport exceeded 4.1 million in 2015, a surge of 27.8 percent year-on-year.

Chengdu has opened 89 international air routes, linking it to 74 international cities in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Oceania and Asia. The city is also scheduled to launch air routes to Sydney, New York and Dubai, according to Chengdu Port and Logistics Office.

Local officials said Chengdu will become a gateway for China to develop cooperation and exchanges with Europe, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East and Central Asia. It is expected to open more than 20 strategic international routes in the next five years.

Construction began on a new airport, Chengdu Tianfu International Airport, on May 27 in Lujia township, Jianyang, about 50 kilometers from downtown Chengdu.

With an investment of 71.86 billion yuan ($11.7 billion), the airport will be completed in 2019 and go into operation in 2020. This will make Chengdu the third city on the Chinese mainland to have a second civil airport, after Beijing and Shanghai.

The first phase will have the capacity to handle 320,000 flights, 40 million passengers and 700,000 metric tons of cargo annually by 2025.

"The Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport has been running at full capacity due to the fast development of Chengdu's civil aviation transportation industry," said Guan Yinghui, a senior executive of Sichuan Airlines.

"Many airlines want to develop a presence in Chengdu, but there is almost no room for more flights. Chengdu will certainly draw a large number of airlines and passengers after the completion of the new airport," he said.

Cao Yunchun, director of the Airport Economics Institute at the Civil Aviation University of China, said Chengdu is faced with plenty of opportunities with the pushing forward of the Belt and Road Initiative and Yangtze River Economic Belt.

"The construction of the new airport will further shorten Chengdu's distance to the world and boost the development of the city's aviation industry, making the city one of China's top-level aviation hubs after Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou," he said.

Government leaders in Chengdu and Sichuan also attach vital importance to the overall development of aviation and aerospace industry.

The Sichuan provincial government signed 27 contracts for major projects in aviation technology, e-communication and energy on Sept 9.

The projects, worth a total of 58 billion yuan involved the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation and other main companies in the industries.

Sichuan Party Chief Wang Dongming and Sichuan Provincial Governor Yin Li presided over the signing ceremony.

(China Daily 09/28/2016 page27)